Wizard: I Add Points and Hunt Monsters

Hmm?

’So two of the pirates really did enter the dream...’

The people on the Storm Hunter were still moving about normally, but two of the pirates who had been leaning on the Ronan’s rail to look this way were now slumped motionlessly against a cabin window.

The surrounding pirates kept their distance, talking in low voices as if afraid to make any noise.

”Dammit... Pulled into that dream without even falling asleep?”

”Two unlucky bastards. Hurry up and bring over a partition. Try to make sure they aren’t disturbed by any loud noises.”

”Wesley, take a small boat over and inform the Captain and First Officer...”

”Something good just happened, and now this. I wonder if it’ll ruin the mood for the bosses.”

”Stop wasting time and get a move on...”

Hearing this, Wei’en extended his perception further out, even probing beneath the sea’s surface. He wanted to find any traces of something collecting murderous intent, or anything similar to those cultist totems.

[You have been targeted by the murderous intent of a Deep Sea Thorn Fish. Evaluation: You seem to have disturbed it. Reward: Survival Points +1.]

’It can detect this too?’

Wei’en frowned and instantly retracted his spiritual perception. ’Are they that sensitive to Extraordinary Power?’

The moment the Thorn Fish discovered him, he had also sensed its movement. It was a monster covered in sharp spikes, swimming toward the Storm Hunter from hundreds of meters below the surface.

’These deep-sea fish are even harder to deal with than I imagined...’

But this meant he could no longer try to find whatever was collecting the murderous intent...

Wei’en thought for a moment and ultimately decided to give up.

Since that Deep Sea rule applied to all ships sailing the Cordo Sea, it meant similar things must exist in other sea regions as well.

’Looks like I can only check it out during the day.’

With that thought, Wei’en stood up, grabbed his lantern, and jumped down below deck. He had already heard Clelia and the others talking; it sounded like they had run into some trouble in the ship’s hold.

”...W-who are you? Where’s Henrik?”

”And who are you?” Clelia stood in the dim hold, staring in suspicion at several cages made of a special metal. Inside were a few strangely shaped people—well, creatures that could generously be called human.

They were completely naked and strikingly handsome, but they were nailed to cross-shaped frames deep inside the cages by dozens of palm-sized spikes. There were spikes through their palms, shoulder blades, hip bones, feet, and even the centers of their foreheads.

But strangely, these ”people” hadn’t died. On the contrary, they acted as if nothing was wrong, calmly watching Clelia and even seeming to be in the mood to ask about the outside world.

”You idiot. There was such a loud noise outside just now. Those bastards must have been slaughtered. Hahaha...”

”By the True God, it’s a shame I didn’t get to see them die with my own eyes. I imagine it must have been a truly beautiful sight.”

”Indeed. If I could, I’d love to taste their blood, to see just what kind of foul stench it has...”

”...You have... unique tastes!”

’Taste? Absorb?’

Clelia’s brow furrowed. Looking at these creatures who acted as if nothing was wrong, she felt that her previous knowledge of the Extraordinary was proving insufficient.

’Just what in the world are these things?’

”Hey, ugly woman, tell me, is everyone on this ship dead already?”

”Ugly woman?” Clelia’s expression turned cold. She snapped her fingers, and a ghostly light shot toward him as a strange Extraordinary Power spread throughout the hold.

”Puppetry... You want to turn me into your puppet?”

”Hahahaha... That’s hilarious, truly...”

”Dammit!” Clelia cursed under her breath and was about to move forward and slaughter them.

”Wait...”

...

...

「Meanwhile, somewhere in the southern Cordo Sea Region.」

Beneath the night sky, a sea fog had rolled in. The crimson moon’s glow flickered dimly, and a dark silhouette was faintly visible through the mist and gloom.

SPLASH, SPLASH...

Waves crashed against the reefs, creating a continuous, rumbling roar.

As the silhouette grew clearer, a majestic steel fortress could be seen standing in the center of a seemingly unremarkable island. On its four high walls, also forged from steel, dozens, even hundreds of streams of magma glowing with a ghostly blue flame flowed along winding grooves, their searing heat dyeing the entire fortress a blazing crimson.

At the foot of the high walls, a deep, dark pit came into view.

The magma flowed down from the walls, slowly crossing the pit and gradually converging into a river of ghostly blue lava.

Countless runes were embedded in the rock walls of the pit. They emitted specks of silvery-white light, dotting the ghostly blue firelight and moving along with the flow of the magma.

And within this majestic steel fortress, surrounded by high walls flickering with crimson and ghostly blue light, stood dozens upon hundreds of tall towers.

Each tower was hundreds of meters tall, piercing the clouds. The tower at the city’s center was even more astounding, reaching a height of a thousand meters.

The spire of each tower was crowned with a massive Gemstone. With the central tower’s Ruby as the core, circles of shorter towers extended outward, and one could vaguely make out a Hexagram Array formed by the connecting Gemstones.

WHOOSH—WHOOSH—

A low, rhythmic snoring sound emanated from the central tower. Each breath seemed to possess a special power, causing the Ruby at the spire’s peak to shoot out six rays of light to the six nearest towers. The light then spread further outward, finally landing on the high walls and activating the flow of the ghostly blue magma—as if a terrifying monster was slumbering within that tower.

”Have you made contact with the Storm Hunter?”

”Not yet. We’ve tried every method, but there’s no response.”

”Strange...”

A flicker of impatience crossed the beautiful face of a woman wearing only a black bandeau and a skimpy skirt to cover the essentials. The ghostly blue firelight of the city reflected in her silver-gray eyes. ”Where’s Black Jack?”

”The First Officer is on his way. He’s expected to arrive within two months,” a figure in full black plate armor replied respectfully. A crystalline, watery-blue light shimmered on their helmet, emitting waves of coolness that pushed back the surrounding heat. Their head was bowed, their gaze fixed firmly on the tips of their boots.

”Send a message. Tell him to keep an eye on the Storm Hunter. If that bastard Henrik has kicked the bucket, have him bring back the person who killed him, or kill them as a challenger.”

”Kicked...?” The person in black armor faltered.

The beautiful woman shot him a glance and said coolly, ”What? You don’t think anyone on the Cordo Sea would dare challenge the Black Pearl, do you?”

”But with Captain Henrik’s strength...”

”Strength? Hmph. Just an arrogant fool!”

The armored person fell silent, seemingly accepting the woman’s words as truth.

”Also, contact the other bastards and tell them to get back here before the boss wakes up,” the woman said with a snort, ignoring his feelings. ”And by the way, tell them that the Alanjia has been making a lot of moves lately. It seems that ’challenger’ has found a way to deal with the Deep Sea Giant Beasts.”

”Also, the Dawn Church’s newly appointed Heroic Saintess has left the Eastern Continent and is heading for the Southern Continent. Tell them to keep an eye out and not to accidentally kill her.”

”I have no desire to start a war with both the Alanjia and the Dawn Church while the boss is out of commission!”

”Yes, Lady Lodilia!”

The beautiful woman waved her hand impatiently. After the armored person had left, she cursed under her breath, ”Dammit, Black Jack. Couldn’t even complete such a simple task. Now the boss has to sleep for another three months.”

She looked at the distant towers shimmering with the light of the Array, the silent and terrifyingly hot magma, and the crimson moon whose glow faintly pierced the sea fog...

After a long while, she sighed. ”’Gunfire roars, the death knell tolls... How strange. The Age of the Divine Ban isn’t supposed to be like this...’”

PS: Apologies, the content of this first Chapter is a bit intense. I’ve had a bit to drink, so my writing isn’t at its best.

However, there will still be an extra Chapter tonight. It’ll be quite late, so please don’t wait up for it.