Chapter 25: The Cloud Whale Drifting Through the Sky

Returning to his small cabin, Angell continued to "mushroom" away, researching the problems left behind by his mentor, sometimes even missing mealtimes. Another dozen or so days passed. During this period, Angell heard of the feud between Isli and Dev: a nobleman had humiliated a young girl to death, and the girl's childhood sweetheart had turned his grief and indignation into strength, enduring humiliation to live until the day he finally rose up and killed the nobleman.

It was melodramatic, but very realistic. In this world where the law only applied to the poor, the actions of the nobility were always exceptions. Fairness only existed when the opposing forces were of equal strength.

After hearing the story, Angell felt quite sympathetic toward Isli. Although he was a noble, he had received an Earth-based education from Jon and held very indifferent views on class. However, Angell later heard something that caused his impression of Isli to drop significantly.

The reason Dev had gone to the restaurant without a single follower that day was that Isli had slaughtered all of them. Some of these followers were members of small families in the Central Empire seeking influence; some were newly recruited followers on the ship with varying degrees of competence; and some were even beauties and talents forcibly taken by Dev. Setting the former aside, the latter two had no conflict with Isli at all—some even shared a similar plight—yet Isli had killed them all, leaving none alive.

Though Angell disliked such cruel behavior, he held no personal malice toward Isli; he simply felt less sympathy and more vigilance.

The world of wizards was even more cruel than he had imagined.

Time flowed on, the Whalesbone Sea was crossed peacefully, and the *Bauhinia* entered the most terrifying region of legend: the Devil's Sea.

This sea was filled with vast numbers of evil pirates, giant sea beasts, bizarre weather, and even the legendary ghost ships.

For civilian vessels, the Devil's Sea was an impassable barrier. But the *Bauhinia* was different; with wizards on board, all evil was repelled.

Halfway through the Devil's Sea, Irene, who had been missing for nearly a month and a half, came to Angell's room.

Irene's face was pale, and her expression was somewhat depressed. Lacking her usual vitality, she sat listlessly on the stool by the window.

"Brother Pat, I only now feel how stupid I am. I don't even know who to tell... You already felt your mental strength the day before yesterday. But me, for over a whole month, I haven't achieved a single result in meditation. Forget magic power—I haven't even seen a shadow of mental strength."

Irene spoke of her meditation experiences over the past month, regardless of whether Angell was actually listening. Toward the end, her nose turned red, her eyes welled with tears, and her mouth pouted; she looked utterly aggrieved.

Angell sighed, not knowing how to comfort the girl, and could only repeat, "You will definitely succeed. It's just a matter of time."

The more he said this, the harder Irene cried. Combined with the comparison to Allen and the brilliant Isli from a few days ago, Irene's crying became uncontrollable. Not only did she cry, but she also began to complain about the boredom of meditation and the various chaotic thoughts that intruded during the process. Fortunately, Irene still possessed some sense of propriety and did not reveal the core content of the Triangular Guidance Method.

Even so, Angell gained a lot from this, carefully noting the potential pitfalls of meditation in his mind.

Once her venting was finished, Irene wiped her tears, her face flushing with embarrassment. Just now, she had felt so wronged that she had used Angell as a sounding board, but once she calmed down, she realized her behavior was somewhat unladylike... Would Angell think she was spoiled in the future?

The atmosphere grew quiet. Irene fidgeted with her hands, her eyes darting around as she thought of how to ease the tension, ideally making Angell forget her outburst.

"Brother Pat, what are you writing?" Irene saw a stack of papers covered in text on the desk. Her eyes filled with curiosity; she had seen those characters before in the stilt house of the Pat Manor—they were called "Chinese characters."

"A diary. Besides reading and sleeping, these days have been incredibly boring. I can only write in a diary to pass the time." Angell told a small lie. He was actually solving problems, but explaining it would be too troublesome and might involve his mentor's secrets. Fortunately, in this world, no one besides his mentor could read Chinese, so he didn't fear being exposed.

Irene looked at it for a while, realized she indeed couldn't understand it, and simply put it down, looking for other topics to lighten the mood.

Irene's topics were still too limited by the perspective of a noble girl. Angell couldn't stand listening for long, and just as he was about to interrupt, the ship suddenly shook violently.

The two did not panic; they quickly grabbed the iron anti-shake railings on the walls to steady themselves.

When sailing the great ocean, it was impossible not to encounter storms. Furthermore, they had entered the Devil's Sea, where wind, thunder, clouds, and lightning were most unpredictable. Consequently, over the past month, they had grown accustomed to small waves every three days and large swells every five. Because of this characteristic, there was nothing on Angell's desk except paper and pens.

The waves lasted for five minutes, which, given their month-long experience, was considered a minor disturbance.

Because of this storm, the awkward atmosphere vanished. Irene brushed back her somewhat disheveled hair, and Angell pulled down his brown short shirt, which had wrinkled up to reveal his abdominal muscles. The two stared at each other for a moment before sharing a laugh.

The relaxed atmosphere did not last long. Before they could react, a "da-da-da—" sound of footsteps appeared on the wooden ceiling—erratic and complex, as if many people were running.

"What's happening upstairs?" The same question surfaced in both their minds.

Irene leaned over the windowsill to look out curiously, and suddenly let out a gasp: "Brother Angell, come look quickly!"

Hearing this, Angell leaned over to look.

Outside was a dark mass. The deep blue sky was blocked by a giant creature. Angell wanted to see clearly what it was, but the creature was so massive that he couldn't distinguish its head from its tail.

Angell's heart raced, and he said quickly, "Let's go out and see!"

If such a massive creature attacked the *Bauhinia*, hiding in the cabin would only mean a faster death. Irene understood this as well and followed Angell's lead without hesitation.

Upon exiting, they saw that the doors to all the other rooms in the corridor were open. Everyone was running toward the deck with tense, even panicked, expressions.

When they reached the deck, they found it crowded with people. Talented individuals, laborers, and sailors were all huddling in groups, staring blankly at the massive creature floating in the sky.

However, Angell noticed that while the talented individuals wore expressions of worry and terror, the sailors and laborers on the *Bauhinia* showed only curiosity and wonder, without a hint of fear.

Noticing this, Angell's anxiety eased slightly. Since the sailors who lived on the ship year-round were not afraid, this giant creature likely posed no threat to their lives.

With this bit of luck, Angell calmed himself to carefully measure the massive creature in the sky—

He couldn't see its full form from inside the cabin, but once on the deck, Angell could finally catch a glimpse of its true appearance.

It was a massive whale, at least two hundred meters long, floating a hundred meters in the sky. Two enormous fins on its sides were like wings; every flap could stir up a whirlwind. The previous large waves must have been the cyclonic winds it had generated.

The whale's eyes were like deep blue gems, shimmering with light. On its streamlined forehead sat a tall, sharp horn. With its back to the blue sky and white clouds, the horn seemed shrouded in a mysterious mist.

"To think the legendary Cloud Whale actually exists in the Devil's Sea!" someone exclaimed in astonishment.

"The Cloud Whale is generally very gentle, but to be safe, we must prepare for the worst-case scenario." Not far away, the *Bauhinia's* adjutant was shouting commands to the sailors before turning to look at the three "Lords" behind him.

"Reporting to the Lords, the *Bauhinia* needs to activate the Mirror Technique. We request your assistance," the adjutant, dressed as a knight, said as he knelt before the "Lords."

These three "Lords" were the escorts from the three major wizard organizations stationed on the *Bauhinia*. There was one woman and two men. The woman was elegantly dressed; she was none other than Madam Merlin, a Level 3 Wizard Apprentice from the Hurricane Tower, whom Angell had seen a few days ago.

Of the two men, the young, handsome one with black hair and brown eyes, wearing leather soft armor, was Lord Cormen, a Level 2 Wizard Apprentice from the "Gravity Forest."

The third was an elderly man with a face full of age but eyes flashing with brilliance, with gray hair and a gray beard. He was the escort for the "White Coral Floating Island Academy," which Angell and the others were about to join: Lord Florent, a Level 3 Wizard Apprentice.

Standing behind Lord Florent were an elderly man in black robes and a youth. Upon seeing them, Irene's eyes lit up, and she began waving her arms at them.

This elder and youth were none other than Moro and Allen, whom they had not seen for a long time.