Divinely Inspired (Part 1)

"Name."

"Yus Erik."

"Nobility?" Ace was slightly surprised.

"I am a blood descendant of His Excellency Erik, the God of Fire," the tall, burly pirate answered proudly.

"Erik City-state is at the northernmost edge of the Salia Peninsula. Why did you come all the way to the southernmost end to become a pirate?" Ace asked with interest.

Yus's eyes sank into memory, and fear surfaced on his face.

"There was unrest in the city-state. The descendants of fire slaughtered one another, and burning blood was everywhere. My father fled with me when I was young. Our branch lost and was wanted by the city-state. We did not dare show ourselves openly, so we could only become pirates."

"Where is your father?" A trace of gravity flashed through Ace's eyes. An older noble represented not merely wisdom, but strength as well.

"On a small island fifty nautical miles southeast of the coast."

"How many of you are there? How strong are you?"

"We have over a hundred and thirty pirates. We are one of the stronger pirate forces around here."

"How strong is your father?"

"My father is a seasoned Divinely Inspired, and his strength is close to Hero-class."

"Divinely Inspired? How does that compare to a Hero? And what is your strength?" Ace grew increasingly interested. He had occasionally heard nobles mention the term, but no one had ever explained its meaning to him.

"They are far inferior to Heroes. Those who can awaken the divine power in their bloodline are called Divinely Inspired. Seasoned Divinely Inspired can skillfully wield the power of their bloodlines, while Hero-class can use powerful abilities similar to Authority. I am an Unawakened Divine Inspired, but I am still much stronger than ordinary people."

Ace slowly digested this new information. Divine descendants who had not reached Hero level were ranked from weakest to strongest as Unawakened Divine Inspired, Divinely Inspired, seasoned Divinely Inspired, and Hero-class. It seemed that Dickens, the intermediate Inspector he had crossed paths with several times, claimed to possess Quasi-Authority. He might be Hero-class.

His current strength was certainly far greater than an Unawakened Divine Inspired's, but whether he could defeat Yus's father was still uncertain. He needed to test him.

A seasoned noble who had awakened his bloodline power, a wanted man with nowhere to call home, and a pirate leader steeped in evil deeds—he was simply too suitable as an experiment. Ace could use him to study the similarities and differences between Divinely Inspired and Low-level Demonic Beasts.

Ace rubbed his hands together, his eyes revealing a researcher's yearning.

"Lastly, how did you know a carriage would be passing through?"

"We have spies in the village. Old Tos, the lame man, saw you heading this way and sent us word."

That cripple... Ace recalled that inconspicuous old man, who had sat idly at the entrance of the village all day. Who would have thought he was a pirate spy? I still lack experience, Ace thought.

"Find a way to lure Old Tos out, then kill him in the wilderness."

Yus's expression visibly struggled. Ace sensed the fluctuations in his mind and used his mental power to connect with the Beguile Creature Rune Structure on Yus's body, disrupting it with his own mental power.

Yus's expression gradually eased. "I'll butcher Tos. He actually tried to harm my best friend."

After seeing the signal, Old Tos secretly made his way to the agreed location. Yus cut off his head with a single slash. Before he died, his eyes were wide open, as though he could not accept that he had suddenly died like this.

After clearing away the loose ends and directing the beguiled pirates to clean up the wrecked dirt road, Ace calmed his mind and meditated, slowly restoring his mental power.

By evening, the sun had already set. Ace disguised himself as a captive bound in ropes and boarded a two-oared wooden boat, sailing southeast with the pirates.

On a sudden whim, he decided to visit the pirates' island and test the Divinely Inspired there. Such precious experimental material was too valuable for him to abandon.

As the wooden boat neared one part of the island, the torches atop the lighthouse blazed fiercely. Without them, even pirates familiar with the island would have struggled to reach it in the darkness.

"Alexius's beard!" a hoarse, deep voice called from the lighthouse.

"Samoyed's hound!" Yus shouted back just as loudly.

The chains beneath and above the water were slowly raised, allowing the wooden boat to enter the island's harbor. A bearded middle-aged man leaped down from the lighthouse and gave Yus a huge bear hug.

"Welcome back, son. I saw that you had not returned for so long, so I deliberately kept the fire burning. It seems this prey was quite thorny. My young hunter must have gained a great harvest." The middle-aged pirate glanced at the pirates, who had returned with only one wooden boat left, and spoke to Yus with a trace of indulgence.

"Yes, Father. Good thing you had me bring two more boats of men. That great scholar even had quite a few mercenaries with him. We nearly suffered a huge loss." One of Yus's hands tightly clasped his father, like a child who had never grown up, while the other reached into his robes.

Ace quietly activated a spell: Lesser Illusion Gaze. He raised the head he had kept lowered, his eyes flickering with the dim light of a spell model.

Illusion Gaze continuously subjected the target of its gaze to Will checks. Those controlled by illusions would also suffer a severe reduction in mental strength, making them easier to beguile afterward. If he directly used beguilement and the target resisted it, their Will would be strengthened to a certain extent, making the situation extremely troublesome.

The middle-aged pirate felt his mind blur for an instant. His sharp intuition told him something was wrong. Yus gripped a dagger and was about to stab it into his abdomen. He shoved his son away, flipped backward, and drew the short sword at his waist. The entire short sword was red, glowing like burning fire and radiating a mysterious rhythm.

A wonder item! A weapon-type wonder item. Desire and caution shone in Ace's eyes. He controlled the beguiled Yus and the other pirates, sending them charging at the middle-aged pirate. The man truly deserved to be called a seasoned Divinely Inspired; he merely faltered for a moment before breaking free of the influence.

But once he had been affected, the next Will check would be harder for him to resist. Coupled with the chaotic surroundings, the middle-aged pirate would likely find it difficult to escape Ace's clutches.

As the pirates charged, Ace leaped from the wooden boat, rolled sideways, and hid in the shadows. The spell models in his eyes flickered, and pirates continuously fell into illusions.

Within seconds, the middle-aged pirate knocked the dagger from Yus's hand and punched Yus in the head, knocking him unconscious. Then red sword light danced, and the pirates fell one after another. Not one could withstand even a single exchange.

The middle-aged pirate said nothing more. Anger clouded his face, and he showed no mercy to the subordinates charging at him, cutting them down with his sword as he charged toward Ace in the shadows.

Ace held the Spellbook in one hand, pulled out a handful of sulfur, and hurled it into the air, activating Lesser Acid Splash. The sulfur in the air was instantly transformed into a mass of corrosive acid, splashing rapidly toward the middle-aged pirate.

The middle-aged pirate did not dodge. He raised his burning short sword high, cleaved apart the corrosive acid, and came straight for Ace. In a few strides, he reached Ace and slashed at him. Yet he did not cut the hateful boy in two as he had expected. The burning short sword struck an invisible shield with a crisp ring.

The middle-aged pirate's fury surged to the heavens. His arm glowed red, veins bulging, while the burning short sword blazed with an even brighter crimson light as it thrust straight at the invisible shield before Ace.