Ravion poured his stellar energy into the seal and said:
"Activate Seal!"
The seal activated in Lin's hand, but it was useless, as it was only a Level One seal.
Level One was the weakest of all levels—it couldn't even heal a minor wound.
Ariana stepped forward calmly and touched the seal, saying softly:
"Seal Enhancement."
The seal evolved to Level Two, then Level Three.
Everyone was shocked, and Garm shouted:
"She's from the Second Secret Family!!"
They all aimed their weapons at Ariana. Their weapons were made of stellar energy;
Garm wielded a Lightning Bow, and Sirk used a Rock Spear,
except for Ravion and Lin, who did not aim their weapons at her.
Garm shouted at Lin, whose weapon was Fire Hand:
"Why aren't you raising your weapon at her?"
Lin replied:
"I can't harm someone who helped us."
Ravion was pleased with Lin's words.
Sirk sighed and said:
"It seems you haven't changed despite everything."
Ravion used Wind Star and said:
"Enough! We're on a smuggler ship operating illegally. Do you really think we'll survive the trouble your actions will cause?"
Ariana said:
"They can't touch me anyway. I helped your friend. Next time, you won't escape me."
Ravion sighed and said:
"Good thing they calmed down."
Sirk and Garm were furious at her arrogance.
Ravion was lost in thought, amazed by the existence of such power in this world.
The ship shook violently,
and the waves struck its sides mercilessly.
At that time, Ravion was training under Garm.
He stood in the middle of the chaos,
while arrows flew past him at terrifying speeds.
But Ariana was there, able to activate a field that blocked any sound or interference.
Ravion felt his stellar energy draining;
every attempt to block attacks directly was consuming him even more.
He clenched his fist and said to himself:
"I can't continue like this…"
At that moment,
he heard the wind passing through the ship's planks,
neither a storm,
nor completely calm…
A broken, scattered breeze.
He remembered what Sirk had told him before:
"You're trying to make the wind collide…
but the wind doesn't collide; it diverts."
Ravion looked at the torn sails,
they moved with the wind,
not resisting… but following it.
He closed his eyes.
Instead of pushing his energy forcefully,
he eased it.
He let part of his stellar energy
blend with the air around him.
For the first time…
he did not try to control it.
He understood.
He opened his eyes and said quietly:
"If the attack won't stop…
I'll let it pass."
The air moved around him,
not violently,
but smoothly.
Leaves, ropes, even sea spray
began to spin slowly.
One of the arrows was shot at him.
It didn't explode.
It didn't break.
It simply deflected,
as if the wind whispered the wrong direction to it.
Ravion's eyes widened.
He said in astonishment:
"This is it…"
He raised his hand slightly and whispered:
"Wind Star…"
Nothing happened for a second.
Then a cold air spread,
as if autumn had entered the ship.
The arrows continued to deflect,
some collided with each other,
and others fell into the sea.
Ravion whispered firmly:
"Autumn Breeze."
It wasn't a destructive power,
but it slowed the attacks,
making the danger avoidable.
His body was exhausted,
but his mind was calm.
.
One of the crew members shouted from outside:
"Sea monsters! Sea monsters!!"
Ravion thought to himself:
"This is the third time sea monsters have attacked the ship."
Lin said:
"Looks like a great wave, I want to fight. I'm tired of sitting and watching."
Lin climbed out of the hideout unnoticed.
He used his stellar power with his weapon, Fire Hand, and his hand ignited with red flames.
The ship guards were fighting sea monsters, but Lin noticed a monster behind them, rushing toward the captain with lightning speed.
The captain noticed the monster and panicked at the nearby aura.
Lin unleashed red flames from his hands and killed the monster before it reached the captain.
The captain and the guards were shocked by Lin's power, but Lin had already disappeared.
Garm shouted:
"You idiot! How could you go there without telling anyone?!"
Lin felt sorry for Sirk and everyone else.
Ravion said:
"We were really worried about you."
Ariana said:
"No, I wasn't worried about him."
Ravion whispered to himself:
"It seems our journey is far from over."
The captain wondered if there were smugglers on the ship.
A guard approached him quietly and said:
"Sir, the attack was too coordinated… as if someone lured the sea monsters toward the ship."
The captain narrowed his eyes and looked at the raging waves:
"That's what I feared… sea monsters don't move like this without reason."
Inside the ship, Ravion felt the aura.
He opened his eyes sharply and said:
"This aura… is not normal."
He stepped out of the hideout.
Ariana stood up slowly.
Silence fell.
Only the sound of the waves remained.
Ravion looked toward the front of the ship, feeling a chill run through his body.
That area belonged to the Five Secret Families!
He whispered:
"So… the fields were not the beginning."
Ravion was terrified by what he heard. He looked around; there was nothing, no one was there.
As the ship continued cutting through the waves…