Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Lu Zhiyu piloted the SS Eternity along the ocean floor. This was Lu Zhiyu’s first time exploring the ocean floor. He saw sea creatures of all sizes, passing through the tides, as large schools of fish glided in every direction amongst the teeming sway of the seaweed, the coral reefs, and all sorts of strange sea monsters!
Among all these creatures, Lu Zhiyu also encountered some descendants of the Children of the Sea. Though they did not have deified cells or special abilities, they carried on the large body type characteristics of the Children of the Sea!
These creatures seemed to be able to detect the threat of the SS Eternity. One of the monsters that looked like a large starfish approached the SS Eternity with its humongous suction cups.
As Lu Zhiyu saw the huge maw approaching, the throat of the monster began changing immediately. Extremely strong vibrations spread from its mouth until the ocean seemed to be shaking. The starfish was torn beyond recognition by the sonic vibrations, turning into ground meat!
This was the second ability of the SS Eternity: sonic vibration. This was a skill that Lu Zhiyu had only recently developed. Though he had been contemplating it for a long time, he had only devised a working model within the last few months!
Lu Zhiyu was glued to the windows, looking outside at the magnificence of the fantastical sea floor as the SS Eternity cruised through the deep sea. Lu Zhiyu had loved Jules Verne’s novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea as a child. Right now, Lu Zhiyu was enjoying that undersea adventure in real life!
As the ship sailed swiftly through the depths of the sea, Lu Zhiyu gazed, enchanted by the scenery. Finally, Lu Zhiyu steered the SS Eternity back to land on the shores of the Black Forest.
Yet, the shoreline of the Black Forest was lined by imposing cliffs. Lu Zhiyu’s SS Eternity could dive into the sea, but it did not yet have the ability to fly, so it could only stop there for now.
Lu Zhiyu had equipped the SS Eternity with sub-brain II, which Lu Zhiyu had renamed as SS Eternity itself. He gave the SS Eternity the command to remain there and await further orders.
Afterwards, Lu Zhiyu went through the dimensional door into the depths of the Black Forest. By now, the wizard tower was almost completed. Within these past few months, not only had the main body of Lu Zhiyu’s wizard tower been completed, but the castle surrounding the wizard tower was also also approaching completion.
At the moment, the densely wooded chain of dark mountains, without a single spot of greenery, looked like the territory of a demon. Jutting out from the craggy rocks was a white castle. It spread across half the mountain with a neat path leading to the foot of the mountain.
At the summit, a colossal black tower rose into the clouds. The wizard tower featured twelve levels, each of epic proportions. The castle on the hill was meant to act as the students’ dormitory, while the tower was to be used for classes, experiments, and reading. Within the tower, Lu Zhiyu had already organized all sorts of study materials in Phinks, the most common human language.
Organized into neatly printed books, with over a thousand years’ worth of rare tomes from the ancient human and orc dynasties and the knowledge of the elves, the library was stocked with all of the knowledge necessary to broaden the worldviews of the wizard apprentices.
Lu Zhiyu was certain that no one could rival his collection within the entire Alen Continent. It was a full two floors with mountains of books that people could get lost in if they weren’t careful!
Lu Zhiyu’s lounge and laboratory were located at the very top of the tower. Its construction and decoration had already been completed. The walls were decorated with art pieces from all over Maria’s World, the floor was carpeted and and he had installed a lion head fireplace by the stained glass windows. However, when Lu Zhiyu opened the windows, he saw the sky covered by a large flock of ravens that were circling above the entire mountain range.The eerie croaks of the ravens seemed especially sinister in the fading glow of twilight.
This was the product of several months of Lu Zhiyu’s hard work: the first magical beast, the wind raven. There was a reason why he made them. Lu Zhiyu implanted an affinity for mankind, as well as loyalty within their genes. Like the dogs on Earth, they were also a lifeform that was close to humanity by nature, and a useful creature that would follow the commands of humans!
The wind ravens were fairly intelligent and had the ability of the wind scythe. Lu Zhiyu had originally wanted to give them the power to control air currents, but since that was from the template of mythical creatures, it was weakened when placed upon a magical beast. As such, their ability ended up being the compression of air currents into highly pressurized blades of wind.
However, the power of the ability was still impressive. A single hit was enough to split a large tree in half. If it was aimed at the average person, they would be completely unable to resist it.
Lu Zhiyu trained the wind ravens using his dream space and taught them how to talk. In a sense, they were equal in intelligence with human beings. Currently, they resided in a nest on the precipice of Lu Zhiyu’s tower.
“Hello Anthony!” a wind raven larger than the rest greeted, as it landed on Lu Zhiyu’s window.
Lu Zhiyu nodded. “Hello Blackjack!”
Blackjack nodded. “Thank you for providing a nest for us. It is wonderfully warm and comfortable. My children and I all like it very much!”
Lu Zhiyu shrugged his shoulders. “That is wonderful. Blackjack, I need the help of the wind ravens with a task!”
Blackjack thumped its chest as it hopped on the windowsill. It was remarkable how a black raven could convey such rich expressions through vivid motions, just like humans. It replied solemnly, “Definitely, what task do you speak of?”
Lu Zhiyu immediately replied, “I wish for you to deliver letters to a few special individuals!”
Within the last half year, Lu Zhiyu had finalized the list of the first batch of wizard apprentices with around two hundred individuals. But by Lu Zhiyu’s estimates, he would be lucky if a hundred of them actually showed up in the end. Currently, no one knew of the existence of wizards and witchcraft within the entirety of Maria’s World.
There were people of all sorts of backgrounds on the list, but most of them were from relatively good backgrounds. Lu Zhiyu required at least a basic level of education from them. They would have to be literate, at the very least, with extraordinary minds.
Within these people, there were the children of lesser nobles, the heirs of merchants, and some sons of smiths. There were also a few adults and slaves that Lu Zhiyu thought highly of. In addition to the human kingdom, there were also people from the kingdoms of the orcs and the elves of Yala continent!
Lu Zhiyu had prepared the acceptance letters for the apprentices with simple introductions to the origin and existences of wizards and the significance of the wizard tower. If they chose to accept, they could tell the wind ravens. The ravens would notify the SS Eternity, which would then go fetch the apprentices!
Each person on the list had a chance to completely change their fate by embarking on a journey to search for the path of truth. Whether they would grasp this opportunity or not would depend on their individual choices!