Two days later, in his room on the wizard ship, Locke embedded two more Indigo Jades into gold rings and filled them with mana.

With the Indigo Jade synthesized the previous day, he now wore three Indigo Jade gold rings, granting an extra 30 points of mana.

Ten points of mana could cast Vine Hand five times, so an additional 30 points meant he could cast it fifteen more times.

In battle, this was a significant boost.

While other wizard apprentices of the same level had to conserve mana, carefully allocating each spell, Locke had achieved a degree of spell freedom, able to overwhelm enemies with sheer quantity.

The only issue was his limited spell pool, which somewhat hindered the advantage of his extra mana reserves.

“I’ve used up all the gems I brought aboard,” Locke sighed. “I’ll have to procure more after disembarking.”

“Indigo Jade is likely a consumable. I don’t know how long one will last.”

Locke looked at his hands. His left hand bore five Deep Blue Jade gold rings, and his right hand had three Indigo Jade gold rings. His mana fluctuations were so stable they seemed nonexistent.

He picked up a wooden cup from the barrel lid in front of him. The water inside began to swirl under his mana’s influence.

“Mana Centrifugal Extraction Technique, mastered.”

“Good.”

A knock came at his door, followed by Lorne Guerrero’s voice. “Locke, it’s mealtime. Let’s head to the deck to eat.”

Lorne Guerrero was the kind third-class wizard apprentice Locke, Patty, and Kode met when they boarded.

After a day in his below-deck room, Locke realized Lorne, also with Level 3 aptitude, lived on the same level.

Neither being socially reserved, they quickly bonded and became friends.

Oddly, from the moment they boarded, the ship’s rules sorted people into categories.

Wizard prospects with the same aptitude lived together.

In just two days, this led to the formation of seven distinct cliques on the ship. As a result, Locke didn’t grow closer to Patty or Kode but instead befriended Lorne, who lived on his level.

Life worked that way, different stages brought different companions.

Previously, Locke was close to Patty and Kode because they were the only wizard prospects on Corfu Island. Now, with hundreds of prospects from various places on the ship, new friendships formed, and old ones were inevitably sidelined.

Locke opened his door. Lorne held two plates. “I can already smell the food on the deck.”

“We have limited time up there. Come on, Locke.”

“I grabbed you a plate.”

Locke looked at Lorne helplessly. “Lorne, you’re too familiar. We’ve only known each other two days.”

Lorne grinned. “That just means we’re fated to get along.”

“From the moment you boarded, I knew we’d click.”

Locke followed Lorne. According to Lorne, he hailed from the Schleswig Continent, the eldest son of the Obsidian Empire’s emperor.

By mortal world traditions, he was to inherit the throne, but his wizard aptitude changed that.

Lorne told Locke that Schleswig had no academies disguised as wizard schools.

Wizards there served the emperor directly, forming a council of elders to aid his father’s rule.

The wizard council, citing his aptitude, revoked Lorne’s succession rights and set him on the path to seek truth.

Lorne’s personality suited a ranger more than a wizard apprentice. He loved helping others and was content with the arrangement.

Locke found Lorne’s demeanor unlike most wizard apprentices, who were gloomy, reserved, and constantly wary.

Lorne, however, was outgoing and talkative.

This made many apprentices suspicious of his intentions, avoiding him.

Only a few, like Locke, engaged with him.

On the deck, oak tables and beech stools were laden with lavish food: roast suckling pig, truffle wild mushroom risotto, herb-baked lobster with saffron foam, black truffle cream mushroom soup, and more.

Lorne was devouring a steak, then tore into two roasted chicken legs, barely chewing.

Locke raised an eyebrow. Lorne’s appetite had a reason.

Lorne claimed to be a grand knight, a prodigy in knighthood.

Mortal worlds varied across islands, Locke learned from chatting with Level 3 aptitude apprentices over the past two days.

Each island’s mortal world differed. Schleswig, Lorne’s home, had a supernatural profession, knights, that are absent on Corfu.

Two hundred years ago, wizards from the Tower of Aberration, specializing in life magic, visited Schleswig.

They designed the knight profession, implanting life seeds to create artificial supernatural organs, granting superhuman stamina.

This was essentially a bloodline modification, like the Stone Crab blood essence experiment Locke assisted Professor Alder with.

Other mortal worlds even had steam engines, coal mines, and early trains, resembling Locke’s past life’s Renaissance era.

Ultimately, the southeast quadrant was the true continent, while mortal worlds were just larger islands scattered across the Endless Mystic Sea.

Isolated by the sea, each island developed uniquely, like independent worlds.

Lorne glanced at Locke. “Not eating? Hurry, or the food will be gone.”

Locke nodded to a female Level 3 aptitude apprentice nearby, then took a steak for his plate.

He ate it slowly, followed by some broccoli and a small piece of strawberry jam on bread. Then he asked Lorne, “How many days until we reach the wizarding world?”

Lorne shook his head. “No idea. I heard the ship’s about to head back. There are nearly a thousand apprentices now.”

Locke nodded.

The wizard prospects would be assigned to various wizard organizations.

The ship stopped at different southeast quadrant locations, with prospects disembarking in batches.

Some had likely already been assigned by mentors from the quadrant.

But no mentors had come for the Level 3 aptitude apprentices yet.

They were probably prioritizing those above deck first.

It wasn’t their turn yet.

As Locke cleaned up to return below deck, a sudden jolt shook the deck, causing many apprentices to stumble.

Locke turned and saw dozens of mentors, including Jarvis, rushing onto the deck toward them.

His gut sensed trouble.

A mentor’s voice, amplified by magic, shouted, “Take cover, protect yourselves with magic.”

The next moment, countless black mists appeared in the sky above. The artificial sun dimmed, the bright sky darkened, as if eclipsed.

The ship kept shaking. From the black mist, zombies rained down like a storm.

Apprentices screamed in terror.

From the mist, voices mocked.

“These are the southeast quadrant’s future prospects? Pathetic, panicking at a bit of black magic. What can we expect from you?”

“The foolish, hypocritical white wizards raised you so poorly. Better hand these prospects to us black wizards for proper training.”

“White wizards, per the rules, half the prospects go to us black wizards.”

“Seize them!”

Jarvis and the mentors shouted.

“Damn it, the black wizards are after our prospects. Stop them. These are our White Wizard Association’s recruits, not theirs to take.”

“Block them!”

Black magic erupted from the mist, countered by the mentors’ fire, water, and other spells.

Zombies clashed with water elements, fire elements, lightning, and frost.

On the deck, Locke saw a Level 2 aptitude apprentice rammed into the sea by a zombie. A black mist descended, cackling, and abducted her.

“Hahaha, this girl belongs to our Carrion Graveyard now.”

“I’ll train her into a fine black wizard. You hypocrites will regret this.”