Chapter 43: The Night’s Strange Transformation
Night had fallen over the endless ocean, where more than a dozen colossal cruise ships sped forward, their hulls cleaving the waves and bursting forth in layers of snowy white spray.
Seven days had passed since their departure, and only half the journey remained before reaching the Wizard Academy. During these days, the initial excitement and fervor among the dozens of students from the Shadow Forest had gradually faded. Aside from meal times, nearly everyone secluded themselves in their rooms, poring over the Universal Principles of the Wizard World and the Academy Regulations sent by Unnes.
Atop the grand vessel of the Shadow Forest, on its highest deck, lay a solitary room—empty and dark, even in the pitch-black night, no lights were kindled. The walls were not solid but rings of transparent material resembling glass. From within, one could clearly see the distant sea, yet nothing of the interior was visible from outside.
Lorna, the formal wizard of the Shadow Forest and chief overseer for this journey, sat silently in the center of the room, legs crossed, eyes tightly shut. If Lin Wei were here, he would easily recognize that Lorna was deep in wizardly meditation.
The room was utterly silent, broken only by the sound of waves on the sea.
Suddenly, Lorna’s closed eyes snapped open, a look of shock bursting forth from his pupils. He rose at once, gaze fixed intently on the pitch-black night sky in the distance.
“Unnes! Come quickly!” Lorna produced a jet-black stone from nowhere, issued a command to it, then crushed the stone swiftly.
...
Inside Lin Wei’s room.
“At last, the first rune fragment is condensed…” A trace of satisfaction flickered in Lin Wei’s eyes. He sank his consciousness, slowly sensing the changes in his mental world. “Core Sphere, display my physical data.”
The mechanical voice of the intelligent Core Sphere sounded in Lin Wei’s ear.
[Lin Wei—Nolan Mountain; Strength: 16.1; Agility: 16.2; Constitution: 16.1; Mental Power: 1.3; Skills: Fencing; Hammer Technique]
Lin Wei nodded imperceptibly, muttering to himself in a voice only he could hear, “Mental power has imperceptibly reached 1.3. No wonder I’ve been feeling increasingly clear-headed lately, my mind sharper than ever… Hmm? The other physical attributes have changed as well?”
He was somewhat surprised. “Mental power truly is the vessel for wizardry; even mere accumulation alters the material properties of the body slowly…”
Just as Lin Wei sought to further probe the changes in his body, a voice erupted suddenly throughout the entire cruise ship.
“All students aboard the Shadow Forest, assemble immediately in the first-floor hall! Hurry!”
Lin Wei instantly recognized Unnes’s voice, though this time it was devoid of previous gentleness; his tone trembled, verging on hysteria.
“What could have happened?” A foreboding feeling swept over Lin Wei. “Unnes is already an apprentice with wizardly power, and Lorna is a full wizard… What could make them so anxious?”
“Warning! Warning! Warning!”
The Core Sphere’s voice sounded again by Lin Wei’s ear.
“Unknown radiation magnetic field surrounding host is intensifying.”
Lin Wei’s pupils contracted. “As expected… Something serious has happened!”
Without hesitation, Lin Wei made his decision. He swiftly opened the door, darting outside.
All student quarters were arranged in the lower decks, mostly on the second and third underground levels. Lin Wei’s room was on the second, requiring only two flights up to reach the first-floor hall as Unnes had ordered.
“Hmm?” As he stepped from his room, Lin Wei was greeted by a pitch-black corridor.
Originally, luminous objects hung above the passageways, illuminating them brightly. Though Lin Wei did not know the principle behind their glow, he understood it was wizardry at work.
But now, those glowing objects were extinguishing one by one.
He heard the commotion from doors nearby. “Only now realizing what Unnes said?”
Yet Lin Wei did not pause. He now clearly understood the gravity of the situation: anything that could trouble both Unnes and Lorna must involve other wizards, and given the Core Sphere’s warning about an unknown radiation field, Lin Wei’s suspicions only deepened.
His pace quickened; while others were just emerging from their rooms, he was already at the exit to the first underground level.
Ahead lay the stairway to the deck, where the sparse silver brilliance of the moon spilled gently from above. With only a few steps, Lin Wei could rush onto the deck and reach the first-floor hall.
“Hmm?” Lin Wei abruptly halted.
Tap, tap, tap!
He heard faintly strange footsteps—heavy, mechanical, as if rusted gears were slowly grinding.
“Something is wrong…” Lin Wei instinctively grew alert, stopping and even beginning to retreat.
Below, voices of boys and girls began to rise in the stairwell as they gathered hurriedly, heading for the deck.
“What emergency has happened? Why is Senior Unnes calling us together in the middle of the night?”
“Who knows? Maybe it’s Professor Lorna’s orders?”
…
Soon, a dozen disheveled, sleep-dazed youths appeared behind Lin Wei.
“Lin Wei?” One noble boy called his name. After these days together, Lin Wei, with his pure shadow talent and third-class aptitude, had become widely known among the students.
Lin Wei glanced at him but said nothing.
“What’s this? Didn’t you hear Senior Unnes’s instructions? Hurry to the first-floor hall, or risk being punished,” grumbled a burly youth, dissatisfied.
“Forget it, everyone move on, don’t mind him,” muttered a plump boy, casting a jealous look at Lin Wei—handsome and gifted, Lin Wei was nearly every common male student’s rival.
The students hurried past, paying no heed to Lin Wei’s hesitation as they moved quickly toward the deck.
The burly youth was the first to step onto the deck, and the moment he did, his figure seemed to freeze, his body trembling ever so slightly.
The passage was not wide, and he nearly blocked half the entrance.
“Move, don’t block the way!”
More students pressed upward, and with the burly youth’s pause, congestion quickly ensued.