Chapter 188: Chapter 187: Pearce’s Nerve Sensitivity Technique
In the blink of an eye, several days had passed.
During this time, there was a tranquil atmosphere on the large ship, as if nothing out of the ordinary had occurred. The four wizards remained hidden away in their cabins, hardly showing their faces, while nearly ten wizard apprentices maintained all daily order.
In the dead of night, on the third deck below the main deck, in Richard’s cabin.
The flame of the oil lamp flickered, casting an orange glow that illuminated the cramped space.
Pandora slept soundly on the bed, occasionally turning over and mumbling something that was unintelligible.
Richard was seated at the table, which was covered by a papyrus scroll. Drawn on the scroll was a complex design made entirely of lines of varying lengths and thicknesses. It was the Magic Rune pattern for “Pearce’s Nerve Sensitivity Technique,” which Richard had spent considerable effort to determine and optimize, and it was intended to be inscribed onto the No.1 Ring to take effect.
After examining the Magic Rune pattern on the Papyrus Scroll a few more times and ensuring that there would be no mistakes, Richard took a deep breath, removed the No.1 Ring from his finger, and brought it close to the Space Iron Ring.
With a soft “pop,” the two rings came into contact, and Richard began to use the “Absolute Spatial Precision” feature of the Space Iron Ring to carve into the blank surface of the No.1 Ring, meticulously etching the Magic Rune, which was reduced dozens to hundreds of times in size.
Time ticked away as the lamp oil in the oil lamp steadily decreased.
When the lamp oil was nearly exhausted, and the flame shrank and was on the verge of going out, Richard finally stopped his work.
He refilled the oil lamp, bringing brightness back to the light. Richard took a long breath and looked closely at the No.1 Ring. Finding the new Magic Rune flawless, he nodded in satisfaction and slipped the ring back onto his finger.
Once he had donned the No.1 Ring, a thought flashed through Richard’s mind, and Free Energy Elements rushed out from the Magic Origin within his body, pouring into the No.1 Ring and activating “Pearce’s Nerve Sensitivity Technique.” He felt a slight tingling all over his body, followed by an extraordinary sense of sensitivity.
“Pearce’s Nerve Sensitivity Technique” began to take effect.
Although “Pearce’s Nerve Sensitivity Technique,” like the “Prototype Acuity Potion,” could enhance the body’s reaction speed, Richard had recently confirmed through research that its operational principle was different. Instead of carving out new neural pathways like the “Prototype Acuity Potion,” it amplified all perceived signals, strengthening the intensity of these signals.
Simply put, “Pearce’s Nerve Sensitivity Technique” would amplify all the information perceived by tenfold, or even more. For instance, if one touched a warm stone, while helping you ascertain its warmth, it would send a much stronger neural signal to the brain, making the stone feel as hot as a branding iron, thus stimulating a rapid bodily response.
It was like having one’s skin peeled back, exposing the flesh to the air. The slightest irritation would be immediately perceived by the nerves and send a strong pain signal to the brain.
Clearly, this was a costly spell, and its value was hard to judge. However, Richard saw it as very useful, especially when combined with the “Prototype Acuity Potion.”
Thinking this, Richard took out a bottle of the prepared “Prototype Acuity Potion” from his bosom and drank it in one gulp.
After a moment, the effects of the “Prototype Acuity Potion” took hold, and Richard began testing the combined effects of the two.
First, Richard closed his eyes and stretched out his hands in front of him, focusing intently on his body’s state. All his body hair seemed to stand on end, like radar searching for a signal, swaying slightly and rhythmically.
Taking a step forward, he moved his hands in mid-air, feeling the nearby air flow over his skin as if it were wind, hastening the movement of his body hair. He could sense the air in front of his chest being compressed forward, bouncing off the cabin walls and causing a loud collision noise in his mind.
Fifty centimeters, forty centimeters, thirty centimeters…
Twenty centimeters, fifteen centimeters, ten centimeters…
In this hypersensitive state, although his eyes were closed, Richard could clearly sense exactly how far his hands were from the wall. In the next instant, he stepped forward and gently made contact with the wall.
He controlled his palm to move slowly over the rough wooden surface, and the grain of the wood rapidly took shape in his mind, along with a clear sensation of the humidity and grease stains it carried.
At that moment, Richard felt as if he were observing the entire cabin from a third-person perspective. As his perception intensified, this viewpoint could extend further outward, reaching into adjacent cabins and even up to the deck above.
Suddenly, Richard felt a vibration on the deck, as if something heavy had dropped. His eyes flew open.
“Hmm?” Richard glanced upwards at the deck above, speculating there was an eighty percent chance that a sailor or a student had accidentally tripped. He didn’t pay much attention to it. However, this did adequately demonstrate the strong effect of “Pearce’ Nerve Sensitivity Technique” when combined with the “Prototype Acuity Potion.”
Taking a deep breath, Richard ended the effect of “Pearce’ Nerve Sensitivity Technique” and exited the hyper-sensitive state. He turned around, took out a fresh papyrus scroll, and, holding a quill, began to record a series of test data and hypotheses.
In the blink of an eye, it was morning.
As the sun rose, Richard opened the door of his cabin and stepped out, only to see several people whispering in the corridor as if they were discussing some secret. After talking for a while, they quickened their pace and ran up the stairs to the upper deck.
Curious, Richard followed them up to the deck above and then saw quite a group gathered there. Amongst them, he spotted Gro and Nancy, only a few meters apart.
Richard raised his eyebrows in puzzlement: He hadn’t heard any announcement about another elimination test, so why had most people suddenly congregated here?
Speculating about the reason, Richard walked towards Gro and Nancy and asked, “What’s going on?”
“Oh, Lord Richard, you’re up,” Gro said when he heard Richard and turned his head, promptly greeting him before he began to explain, “You see…”
Gro’s subsequent words were interrupted by Nancy beside him, who crisply cut in to answer, “Someone’s died.”
“Hmm?” Richard’s eyes flashed.
Gro was silent… If this had been earlier, Gro, a prince, would have taught a lesson to anyone who dared interrupt him so rudely, but upon seeing it was Nancy, he merely swallowed his saliva and then turned to Richard to repeat, “Ah, yes, someone’s died, Lord Richard.”
After pondering for a moment, Gro quickly added, “It was a sailor on the giant vessel.”
“Yes, a sailor,” Gro nodded, about to explain further, “I heard…”
“I heard this is the third sailor to have died,” Nancy interrupted, “The day before yesterday and yesterday, one died each day.”
“Is that so?” Richard nodded slightly. Since he spent most of his time in his cabin, he wasn’t very familiar with these kinds of trivial matters.
Gro glanced at Nancy: “…”
Richard pondered for a moment and then asked them, “Was the sailor’s death accidental, or was there some other reason?”
Gro opened his mouth, ready to respond. He had a lot of insight into such matters, but remembering Nancy was beside him, he stopped short and looked towards her, silently asking with his eyes: Shall you say it?
Nancy didn’t even look at him.
“Well, in that case, I’ll say it,” Gro thought to himself and took a deep breath to speak, only to hear Nancy’s voice start up beside him.