I Ascend to the Divine Throne through Arcane Means

Three months later, the Pearl Sea, aboard the Eagle.

In the afternoon, the sun high above relentlessly sent down scorching rays; the azure sea reflected golden radiance, like pieces of gold flowing on the water surface, carrying a slightly salty tang. The sea breeze, although it took away a bit of the heat, still made the deck unbearably steaming hot.

At that time, the sails of the Eagle had been lowered, and it stayed in place.

Several months had passed since Lis explored Divine Island in Ansel, but instead of leaving the Pearl Sea with everyone, he continued to roam the vast sea with the Eagle, hunting every pirate ship they encountered.

However, during this period, Lis regularly took time each day to leave the Eagle and practice far out at sea.

Differently from before, when during Lis's practice, only mild sensations like slight waves and faint explosions would emanate from his direction.

Now, the ones left on the Eagle, like Charles and others, felt the surge of massive waves and the thunderous roar.

If Lis hadn't realized the issue and shifted his practice area to even more remote parts of the sea, all of his crew would have had to endure hours of this rocking every day.

Charles gulped down a big mouthful of cold malt beer and sighed contentedly.

Having a Mage master on board sure is cool; an icy brew on a hot summer's day could dispel most of the irritability.

This was thanks to the self-charging Magic Rune Lis had casually installed in an ice cellar on the ship, allowing him and Helen to enjoy ice cream and cool juices.

Charles and the others took the opportunity to store lots of fine wines in the ice cellar, to savor chilled wines that dispelled the heat while drifting on the ocean.

In the following months, apart from occasionally returning to port to restock supplies and collect the bounties on pirates, the Eagle continued to drift across the Pearl Sea, hunting every pirate ship it spotted.

Logically, sailing the vast ocean should have been quite tedious, but as the captain, Lis did not keep all the treasure gained from hunting pirate ships for himself; the sailors aboard had received more gold coins than they usually would in several years, so they were all keen to stay on the boat.

Women, is there anything more attractive than gold coins?
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As for Charles, Evar, and Basel, they also kept honestly.

Especially Evar, who after coming back from Divine Island, had become the strongest aboard the Eagle apart from Lis, but he still devotedly followed Lis.

In his eyes, even the remnants of divine souls had been dealt with by Lis!

With such a powerhouse, when better to hold fast if not now?

In contrast, Charles was much more laid-back.

After all, he had come here from Dillon Kingdom looking for a breakthrough opportunity; without any clues or goals, it felt pretty great to follow Lis.

Biting into a chilled large mango, sweet juice oozed from the corners of Charles's mouth as he watched Helen meticulously practicing her swordplay under the scorching sun, her small white shirt completely soaked with sweat, tightly clinging to her burgeoning body.

Thanks to ample nutrition and exercise, Helen was no longer as thin and pitiful as when Lis first met her; her wheat-colored arms had begun to show the outlines of muscles, and she had grown much taller.

Charles clicked his tongue and, speaking to Basel who was lazily leaning in the shade, said,

"Why do I feel like Lis's movements have been getting much bigger lately?"

He then patted the wooden deck underneath him, saying with lingering fear in his voice.

He still remembered when Lis first practiced close enough to the Eagle to be seen with the naked eye; the towering waves and thunderous roars had almost made him think a storm was coming again.

Basel took a sip of his chilled fruit wine and said indifferently,

"Why do you care so much? You want to be the captain, huh?"

"You, why do you always slander people?"

Charles was jolted. Ever since he had witnessed the further increase in Lis's power, that almost cataclysmic scene, Lis had become a terrifying figure in his mind, just like Councilor Isidore.

Such great figures, Charles always respected deeply from his heart.

Besides, Charles quite liked his current lifestyle; after all, he had chosen the life of a mercenary precisely because he loved adventure. Otherwise, with his teacher's connections, he could have formally joined the Oak Council long ago.

Indeed, with his talent, it was very likely he could break through to the Golden Rank.

But this pirate-hunting sea life felt quite right to Charles, akin to a Hunter's single-minded pursuit; he felt his skills had greatly improved during these months.

Also, because of the past months spent hunting pirates and charging protection fees from passing merchant ships, the name of the Eagle had begun to spread among many port cities along the coastline of the Pearl Sea.

Whenever the Eagle was mentioned, many captains who had encountered them wore constipated expressions; after all, although the Eagle always claimed to be a pirate ship, this group really hadn't done anything like robbing merchant ships.

At most, they just engaged in friendly discussions with those "captains" who were unwilling to pay the tolls.

In this context, Charles, Evar, and Basel had already formed a trio known for mischief, and their names had begun to be celebrated.