"There is no need for that."
Ian shook his head at Ignysyl's suggestion. If not for the recent reward from the system, he probably would have needed to use that form.
But now that he had the "Abyssal Adaptation" attribute, this level of corruption shouldn't affect him.
This once again proved that the system rewards were always based on what he needed the most; although Aurora's quest being Interdiate one might brought attribute reward only after 80 points of favourability.
"Swish!"
And just after he replied, the darkness that was slowly creeping over the ship finally engulfed the entire Silver Gull, as if sothing had stuffed it into a giant maw, ready to crush it to pieces.
"Shrrkk...."
As soon as the darkness swallowed everything, Ian heard a chilling shriek from the front that could send sent shivers down the spine.
The atmosphere shifted drastically. A low murmur, the sizzling sound of unseen things, and the constant ntal impact of sothing impure pressing against their minds were the first things he noticed.
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Moreover, he could barely make out a projection of a red moon in the sky.
But perhaps due to his new attribute, Ian didn't find anything unusual besides the darkness, which, even then, couldn't impair his vision further.
"Hey, can you increase the range of your Rule of Fire?"
Ian suddenly asked Ignysyl after noticing Lyra and Aurora growing visibly tense. The latter was worse, still mumbling sothing while gripping Ian's arm tightly.
After all, both were being targeted by an entity related to the Abyss, and it would be better to hide their presence if possible.
"Hm? I can. But rules don't work well in the Abyssal plane unless they are related to it. Although because this isn't exactly the Abyss, just its influence, it should still function."
Ignysyl understood what Ian was thinking and replied casually while expanding the range of his rule to cover all of them.
However, he didn't noticed Ian's changed in expression once he said those words as if he caught an important surprising detail.
"Then... what about pacts and contracts?"
He asked again, realizing Ron's likely plan after hearing Ignysyl's unintentional slip.
"Hm? Um... Are you perhaps worried that the Primal Bond won't work? Tch... you're a Runeblood, and our bond isn't weak enough to be restricted so easily."
But Ignysyl assud Ian was concerned about their bond being affected by the Absyssal plane and rolled his small eyes in annoyance.
If he were a girl, Ian would have thought he was pouting feeling aggrieved.
"Can you stop reading between the lines? Don't you know I have a pact with that wizard? I was talking about that."
Ian quickly realized that this little dragon had indeed taken Lyra's earlier words to his heart.
Look, his sensitive nerve imdiately flared up at the re ntion of the bond and contract.
'Looks like we need to work on this.'
Ian noted internally that suspicion wasn't a good thing, especially with a dragon already connected to him. Better to curb such misunderstandings before it got out of hand.
"Oh? Haha... you an that guy? I thought..."
Ignysyl realized his mistake after Ian's reprimand and laughed awkwardly, trying to cover his embarrassnt.
He was aware of the Sigil Of Subjugation pact on Ian after forming a spiritual link, but since his mind had been elsewhere, he completely forgot.
"Yeah, So... uhum..."
"...while the pact can't be erased just by being near the Abyss, its influence will weaken significantly. After all, no sane powerful entity would willingly ddle in such a diabolical place for a simple contract."
He quickly shifted the topic back and answered seriously.
"Of course, things will be different if that entity is from the Abyss. It will be exact opposite and too dangerous in that case then. But that pact isn't related to Absyss from my perception."
Ignysyl said while looking at Ian,
"No wonder that bastard rushed straight into this place. Did he plan sothing against you? Completely violating the pact is impossible, but he could still find loopholes."
The little dragon flared his nostrils while glancing at Ian, as if he had guessed what he was thinking.
"Just as I thought, soone seems to want to die."
Ian's eyes turned cold after receiving confirmation from Ignysyl.
Ron was getting too bold, wasn't he?
'It seems I was too lenient before. I thought of letting him live at least until we got close to our destination, but...'
Actually, Ian still couldn't understand why Ron took such drastic asures.
Even if the pact weakened, Ron knew Ian's actual strength; at least in his misunderstanding, which likely had grown even more after entering the Ignisia Tower.
So, he should have realized that even a surprise attack wouldn't be enough.
'And he still hasn't shown himself.'
Ian glanced at the silent top deck. This shouldn't be the norm if it was a conspiracy against him.
'What exactly is he planning?'
Just as Ian was deep in thought, he suddenly heard Lyra's sweet voice from beside him.
"Ian, what happened?"
Lyra asked worriedly, noticing his long silence. She thought he had detected sothing they hadn't.
"Hm? Oh... I was just thinking about this situation. Don't worry about it."
Ian put aside those thoughts for now and replied.
Hearing his usual response, Lyra sighed in relief and then asked again,
"Then... should we return to the room too? Look, everyone else has already disappeared. And she isn't feeling well either."
Lyra gestured toward the empty walkway and then at Aurora, who looked pale and silent; although she seed more calm after Ian hugged her limp figure.
"Sigh... don't worry about it. This isn't the real Abyss. Look, it can't even break through the ship's mana barrier. We're still in the sea."
Ian sighed and pointed at the surroundings that were still engulfed in the darkness. But besides so unusual and creepy voices, there was really nothing in their view, not even a single monster.
"If I'm right, that bastard Ron must be plotting sothing by stopping the ship here."
In fact, Ian even found that the mana barrier outside was special in a way that it was actively guarding the ship against corruption, making it safer for those apprentices inside their room.
That's another reason Ian thought Ron might have another plan.
There was also the fact that there was nothing outside for the ship to collide with, making it obvious that Ron was responsible for the sudden halt.
"Then... what should we do? Can't we just leave this place imdiately?"
Aurora asked in a low voice from his side, as although she was still frightened by the eerie darkness and occasional creepy sounds reminiscent of the Abyss she had encountered before, didn't sense any imdiate danger—especially not the whisper she had feared.
She didn't know why but after hearing Ian's assuring words, she imdiately believed him causing her to finally relax a little.
"Hey, I just said the sa thing, and you didn't believe . Why are you trusting him now? And besides, didn't you hear he ntioned just now? I told you, it was him who summoned in the first place."
But the whisper in her mind didn't like her reaction one bit.
Since the ti the Abyss appeared, she had been blad for nothing, and even after she tried to console and reason with her, she was still shunned as a betrayer.
But now that she heard the sa thing from Ian, she was believing him?
Most importantly, why was Aurora ignoring the fact that Ian knew about her existence?
'Tch... of course, he would know after I mumbled like that. And I suddenly beca a Wizard Apprentice. He might have suspected sothing because of that. Don't try to sow discord.'
Aurora chided the whisper in her mind, not liking how it was blaming Ian for her existence.
And maybe, deep in her heart, even if that was truly the case, Ian wasn't the one to be blad in the first place.
Rather, wasn't he the one who gave her the chance to beco strong?
Aurora's thoughts were growing more and more twisted without her realizing it, causing the whisper to finally understand what it ant to be truly speechless.
"Well, let's first find out what he was trying to do by stopping the ship in this place."
Ian, unaware of the quarrel going on inside Aurora's mind, casually answered while making his way toward the top deck.
"Be careful, and take care of them if sothing happens."
However, he didn't forget to remind Ignysyl, who was perched on his shoulder who nodded in response, causing Ian to relax slightly.
In fact, ever since he had engulfed the spirit of Dornar in the Ignisia Tower with his translucent eyes in Ethereal Form, he hadn't used that ability again—at least not in its full state.
So, he wasn't entirely sure how strong his abilities were.
However, he was certain that even a First Ring Wizard, even one at their peak, wouldn't be a match for him.
That was why he didn't bother with eliminating Borris or Ron just yet, choosing instead to take advantage of the situation first.
'Although, it seems I was a little too confident. It's better to curb the problem as soon as it sprouts.'
'As long as the boat is there, I can always find my way to Calvora. There's no need for anyone.'
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