Under a full moon, an enormous wooden ship floated on a boundless black sea.
The bottom of its vast hold had been divided into dozens of cramped rooms, with hay strewn haphazardly inside for people to sleep on.
Damp, musty air flooded his nostrils, irritating his lungs and triggering a violent coughing fit.
Li Ang coughed himself awake.
He seemed to have transmigrated.
The moldy hay creaked and rustled beneath him as a jumble of memories flooded his mind.
Li Ang Carlson, the son of a minor noble in Carter Village.
His family was not fabulously wealthy, but they were reasonably well-off.
A week ago, he had been found to possess an aptitude for wizardry, so he had boarded this enormous ship bound for the Wizard Tower in Riley City.
The ship was controlled by a wizard and regularly transported those with "aptitude" from various regions to the Wizard Tower.
"Cough, cough, cough."
His lungs itched and ached as though barbs were scraping back and forth inside them.
When Li Ang's aptitude for wizardry had been discovered, his father had been ecstatic. Li Ang had not let him down after he had poured the family's entire fortune into securing this chance to be tested.
He had spent several gold coins bribing an official to come and test the Carlson Family, a minor noble family with no wizard bloodline.
Even more astonishingly, two retainers of the Carlson Family who were Li Ang's age had also been found to possess an aptitude for wizardry.
Three future wizards discovered in a single village, all from the Carlson Family!
Everyone believed the Carlson Family was about to reclaim its former glory. Even the original Li Ang had been immersed in that bright prospect when he boarded the ship with his two retainers.
Yet things had not gone as smoothly as he had imagined...
Bang, bang-
A burly man suddenly appeared in the doorway, pounding wildly on the frame with his thick palm.
"You Carlson bastard, why are you still here? Didn't you hear the wizard's order to assemble?"
"Kavi..."
The man was one of the two retainers Li Ang had brought aboard a week ago.
Li Ang instinctively called his name, only to watch Kavi's fist come flying toward him.
Thud!
Already weak, Li Ang took the punch squarely and gasped for breath.
"Bastard, I'm warning you one last time. I'm the deputy class leader personally appointed by the wizard now. Call me by name again, and you're dead. Ptooey!"
With that, the burly Kavi slammed the door behind him.
Clutching his stomach and panting heavily, Li Ang forced himself to stand despite the pain and headed toward the deck.
The wizard had ordered everyone to assemble. He would certainly be punished if he did not get there immediately.
"The deputy class leader personally appointed by the wizard..."
Recalling Kavi's arrogant demeanor, Li Ang felt a deep, visceral disgust.
Kavi and Matthew had originally been retainers of Li Ang's noble household.
The original Li Ang had believed he treated them very well. Even at ordinary meals, he had disregarded the rules separating nobles from commoners, letting all three sit at one table and talk about anything and everything.
Even their chance to be tested for wizard aptitude had been bought by the Carlson Family at the cost of its entire fortune.
Yet the original Li Ang had never imagined that the gulf between their social classes would remain, and that he could never truly be brothers with those two.
After boarding the wizard's ship, Matthew and Kavi had lucked into being chosen as class leader and deputy class leader of the prospective apprentices. Their former respect vanished, and they frequently beat and kicked Li Ang.
The lower hold where they lived was far too damp and moldy. Coupled with the frequent beatings, Li Ang had developed a lung disease, lost all hope of living, and died in despair at the bottom of the ship.
"Cough, cough." Li Ang kept coughing as he walked.
Although he had now transmigrated, the original owner's lung disease did not seem to have healed in the process.
If he kept coughing like this, he probably would not survive more than a few days himself.
I need treatment...
But where could he find a doctor out on this boundless ocean? Li Ang felt a headache coming on.
Just then, a shaft of moonlight fell across the floor ahead. A wooden ladder leading to the deck came into view, and he climbed it.
The enormous wooden ship had four levels. Every room on the lowest level was cramped, dark, and damp, housing the dozens of students; the upper levels had only a handful of rooms, occupied by the wizard overseeing these prospective apprentices and his attendants.
Li Ang reached the deck and saw that the ship had only one enormous mast, supporting three pure white sails.
"Can a ship this huge really move with just three sails..." Li Ang mused. "They must be using some kind of wizardry to power the sails and propel the ship, right?"
Looking up, he saw that the canvas seemed to be gathering wind on its own.
Just then, a panel suddenly appeared before Li Ang's eyes.
[Gale-Sailing Canvas: lv0] [Status: available for binding] [Binding cost: 1 point of mental power]
"Holy shit?"
My cheat is here!
Li Ang coughed several times in his excitement, then calmed himself and studied it carefully. Instructions for using the panel flooded his mind at the same time.
In short, the cheat he had awakened was the "facility upgrade panel." It could bind facilities and upgrade them once the conditions were met.
Moreover, other people could only use the effects of his bound facilities with his approval. Otherwise, even if they occupied a facility, they could use only its most basic functions.
In other words, after he bound a facility, it would be no more than an ordinary facility to anyone else unless he personally authorized them.
A base-building cheat, then...
Base-building seemed a little too slow to solve his current predicament. Besides, he was still on a ship and did not even have any land.
Whatever. I'll bind it first.
"Confirm binding."
[Binding successful] [Gale-Sailing Canvas: current level lv0] [lv1 effects: air gathering and dispersal capability +10%, ambient wind-element mana concentration +10%] [Upgrade requirements and cost: reach 1 magic starlet in the mental world; expend 5 points of mental power]
The instant the system announced that the binding had succeeded, Li Ang suddenly felt an indescribable sense of control over the three sails. Some knowledge about the facility also appeared in his mind.
The "Gale-Sailing Canvas" was canvas inscribed with a Wind-Gathering Array.
Through the Wind-Gathering Array, the canvas could gather and disperse wind within a small area, propelling the ship forward.
"So that's how it works..."
Li Ang tried directing it to gather wind. A fierce gust really did spring up around the canvas, making the entire wizard's ship pitch violently.
Li Ang: "!"
Once he had bound a facility, it could actually work according to his wishes.
He remembered the eccentric wizard saying when they first boarded, "This ship is made up of multiple intricate spell arrays. Don't touch anything, or you won't be able to bear the consequences."
In that case, if I put in some effort, could I bind this entire ship?
Then this ship would be completely under my command!
At that thought, Li Ang could hardly wait to try.
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