The content of the book Fundamentals of Magic had been truly eye-opening. William couldn't help but be amazed. In his old world, magic was treated as myth, mystery—something metaphorical or unexplained. But here, it was a science. A rigorous science, with units of measurement, testable theories, and proper experimentation. And that thrilled him more than he'd like to admit.
"This is… incredible," he whispered, flipping through the pages eagerly.
He learned that J. Thompson had created a standard scale to measure both the amount of mana stored in the body and the magical power a person could exert. The two stones Aurus had given him—one glowing and the other dull—were key tools in that system: the Resonance Stone measured spiritual power, and the Absorption Stone measured stored mana.
According to the book, Thompson had discovered them during a remote expedition. After noticing they always gave consistent results regardless of the subject or environment, he established them as fundamental units in his research.
William nodded, deeply impressed.
"Angel, adjust the stored mana scale in my head to match Thompson's system," he instructed, still holding the book.
"Adjusting… calculations complete. User's spiritual power: 5.3. Stored mana: 10.0."
"Pretty close to what Professor Aurus said," William smiled, satisfied. "I think I'll take a break before diving into the other books."
His stomach growled. He was hungry, and after hours of studying, a change of scenery sounded like a great idea.
He stepped out of his cabin. The sun was starting to set, painting the sky in warm amber hues. But something felt off. The deck, usually buzzing with people around this hour, was now completely empty. No footsteps, no chatter, no laughter.
Frowning, William headed toward the cafeteria.
There, he found all the sailors gathered together. They were eating, drinking, and laughing loudly, as if celebrating something. Some were already tipsy, belting out sea songs with raspy voices and clinking their metal mugs.
As he stepped in, many heads turned. Not hostile, just surprised. It wasn't common to see one of the passengers out and about at this hour.
William grabbed a hearty plate: medium-rare steak, sautéed veggies, and a spiced wine. He approached one of the long wooden tables where several sailors were dining.
"Mind if I join you, gentlemen?"
There was a brief silence. Several pairs of eyes looked at him—some skeptical, others merely curious. Finally, one of them nodded.
"Sure," the man grunted.
William sat down and acted as if nothing was wrong, eating calmly. But Angel had other ideas.
"Warning: average stats at this table are abnormally high. Strongest individual detected. Strength: 160. Agility: 190. Vitality: 249.9."
William almost choked. He barely held back a cough, washing it down with a long gulp of wine. He was sitting next to a beast—and had no idea.
"The food's pretty good, huh?" he said, trying his best to sound casual.
"No need to be so nervous, kid," said a deep voice.
The man who spoke had a steel gaze and a scar running from his brow to his jaw. He radiated authority.
"I'm William. Nice to meet you all."
"I'm Thenerev, captain of the Legacy. And this is my crew."
One by one, the sailors began introducing themselves. Their names were all over the place—some odd, some simple—but all of them wore the same slightly unsettling grin.
The conversation flowed from there, with the sailors sharing stories from the sea.
"Kid, just wait till we cross to the other side of the ocean. You'll see fish the size of horses!" one yelled, laughing. "They taste like honey and the meat melts in your mouth!"
"That's nothing!" another chimed in. "The eastern coast has octopuses as big as houses—and so tender you don't even need a knife!"
The tales grew wilder and louder, until one particularly drunk sailor slammed his fist on the table.
"Let's just hope we don't run into those damned monsters again! Why the hell did you accept this route at this time of year, old man?!"
The mood shifted. Captain Thenerev shot him a hard glare. They weren't alone—and William was still sitting there. Clearly, they were getting into dangerous territory.
Sensing the tension, William jumped in.
"You mean… the Kraken and the Leviathan, right? My teacher mentioned them, but didn't say what they're like or how big they are. Would you mind telling me more?"
The sailors exchanged glances. Seeing that William already knew of those beasts, the tension eased a little.
"Listen up, kid," Thenerev grunted.
He removed the top half of his armor, revealing deep scars crisscrossing his torso like old battle maps.
"Back when I wasn't even a captain yet, we ran into the Kraken. The sky turned black out of nowhere. The sea went dead calm. And then—boom!" He slammed his mug down, spilling beer across the table. "The damn thing split our ship in two! I got tossed straight toward its mouth. I thought I was done for. Swung my sword with everything I had, but it was like hitting metal. That's when the mages attacked and managed to wound it. I took the chance and ran. Escaping that mouth… that was the scariest moment of my life."
"I was there too, but on an escort ship," added a bald man with yellow eyes. "I saw the thing from the side. Looks like a giant squid, but its eyes glow with a sick purple light. It's bigger than this ship—more like a floating mountain with hundreds of tentacles. Even has some sprouting from its mouth, like a beard. When the mages hit it with lightning and fireballs, they barely scratched it. Just pissed it off. Then it fired this… weird energy beam from its mouth. Killed several first-tier mages like they were insects. That's when the ship's Guardians stepped in and hit it with everything they had. Blasted out one of its eyes and it finally retreated into the deep. The Kraken's shy—if you hurt it, it runs. But the Leviathan…"
He went silent, and everyone at the table seemed to pause.
"Yeah," said Thenerev gravely. "If it had been the Leviathan, we wouldn't be here. That bastard doesn't run. It chases you to the ends of the world. It either kills you, or you manage to escape. That's it."
William swallowed hard. Even the man with the highest stats he'd ever seen stood no chance against such a creature. He himself… he was barely a fly next to an elephant.
And for the first time, William began to truly understand how vast, dangerous, and terrifying this world could be.