And on the other side,
The sea was as dark as ink.
Swoosh!
The black monster flapped its wings, stirring up the sound of the wind.
Feeling the approach of the wind from behind, Colin's heart sank a little as he hung midair.
His Flying and Diving Skill was just a beginner's... just as the female clerk had said, his speed was truly mediocre.
Or to put it bluntly... pathetic.
If not for the boost from the Foolishness Scepter, he would have been caught by the black monster's leader long ago.
Of course, now it wasn't much different.
This clearly wouldn't do!
Holding Renee and Mod in one hand, he freed up the other to wave the Foolishness Scepter and turned his head to shoot a Fireball at the black monster's leader!
Boom!
The Fireball exploded a few meters from the black monster's leader, the blast wave causing the creature, caught off guard, to spin midair!
But this could only temporarily block the black monster's leader for a moment.
Before long, it had adjusted its posture and was once again chasing after Colin!
The black membranous wings beat rapidly, quickly closing in on Colin.
Boom!!
The same Fireball attacked again; this time the black monster's leader was more cautious and dodged early.
But it didn't expect the Fireball to turn and accelerate with it, then expand and explode, engulfing it.
Hiss!
The black monster's leader closed its wings, and the black glow on its body intensified, resisting the Fireball's scorching!
Colin seized this opportunity to speed up and continue flying, trying to increase the distance between him and the black monster's leader.
The leader was stronger than he had imagined; the ordinary power of witchcraft attacks equivalent to those of a First Rank Junior Wizard, boosted by the Foolishness Scepter, had no effect on it.
Only the attacks from the Sun Fireball, which were equivalent to that of a First Rank Intermediate Wizard, had been able to cause it harm.
However, all he needed was a temporary delay.
The chase continued for a long time.
It wasn't until Colin looked back and saw that the crescent-shaped island had visibly shrunk in size that he finally slowed his flying speed.
Breathing out softly, he took the opportunity, while the black monster's leader was still at bay, to dive down, close to the sea surface. Then, he took out an inflatable lifeboat from the Storage Ring.
"Paddle away," Colin told Renee, placing the three of them on the inflatable lifeboat, and spoke softly.
"Yes, Master," Renee replied without hesitation, then paused and stared at Colin, speaking softly. "Master... be careful."
"Hmm," Colin nodded in response, casually turning his head to look behind.
After Renee had spoken, the black monster's leader was already closing in.
He climbed again, hovering midair, waiting for the black monster to attack.
The speed of his Flying and Diving Skill was clearly much slower than that of the black monster's leader, and he had little Magic Power left within him. If he kept fleeing, he would be heading down a dead end.
Not to mention the speed of the Sea Swallow, barely over thirty knots, not even as fast as the Flying and Diving Skill.
He had to seize the opportunity while he still had strength left to kill the black monster's leader and escape!
His body's Magic Power and Spirit didn't allow for any more probing; he had to be decisive!
Fingering the Sun Fireball Ring on his right forefinger, he hesitated for a moment but chose to hold on to the Foolishness Scepter tightly.
The Sun Fireball Ring, though pre-charged and not consuming Magic Power, required the use of spiritual power.
In his normal, full state of spirit, he might have been able to manage a second cast.
But in his current condition, attempting a second cast had virtually no chance of success.
'Only by using the Foolishness Scepter to forcibly enhance the Magic Power!' He silently made up his mind.
The Foolishness Scepter arbitrarily enhanced the power of witchcraft, increasing neither the spiritual nor the magic consumption.
From past tests, if he were to push the Limit Breaking to the Golden Paper level for a Basic Level spell like the Arrow Shooting Skill, it would only be raised to the power of a normally cast spell by a First Rank Junior Wizard.
The consumption indicated on the Golden Paper for this was that after casting five times, it would decrease the progress by one point.
Perhaps the increase of knowledge from the Golden Paper, when casting witchcraft at full power, compensated for the knowledge consumed by the Foolishness Scepter.
So, compared with the power increased by the Foolishness Scepter, such knowledge consumption didn't seem significant.
But this was only to the level of a First Rank Junior.
To increase it further, the consumption of knowledge would rise exponentially!
Swoosh!
The black monster's leader was now less than ten meters from him.
Colin exhaled a breath, clenching the Foolishness Scepter!
The next second, he gently swung it.
Hiss.
A brightly yellow Fireball tinged with a hint of blazing white appeared before him.
Swoosh!
The next second, like a streak of light, it shot towards the black monster's leader with extraordinary speed.
The black monster's leader's red eyes widened! A clear sense of panic appeared on its face.
Boom!!
In an instant, it was engulfed by flames.
The invisible shockwave made Colin's figure sway, and his face turned pale as he stared intently at the flames.
The bright light of the flames made his eyes sting, but he still didn't look away.
Thump.
Before long, the dark creature leader's clone in the flames stopped moving, curled up from the scorching, and fell into the sea.
Colin urged the scant Magic Power left in his body, flying toward the remains of the dark creature leader.
Swoosh!
Before he even got close, he fired a Cone Bullet to check the solidity of the dark creature's remnants ahead of him.
Bang.
The remains of the dark creature, originally about the size of a man floating on the sea's surface, turned into powder under the impact of the Cone Bullet and dissolved into the seawater.
Seeing this sight, he breathed a sigh of relief.
"What's this?"
The next second, he furrowed his brow in confusion, concentrated his Force Field, and bent forward to scoop up the last ashes of the dark creature's remains—a black ball the size of a chicken egg.
The black ball was smooth and round, flashing with a deep light within.
Could it be some kind of treasure?
Colin's eyes flickered as he once again urged the Foolishness Scepter.
Bright yellow flames rose from his hands, but instead of expanding, they were constrained to the size of a fist, enveloping the chicken egg-sized black ball and unreservedly transferring all heat onto it.
Soon, the black ball turned red and then, amid a sickening screech, shattered into ashes.
But Colin still didn't stop.
With Magic Power nearly depleted, he called off the Flying and Diving Skill, allowing himself to fall into the water, focusing the remaining Magic Power on the flames in his right hand.
Not until his Magic Power was almost entirely exhausted, and the ashes showed no change, did he slowly cease his efforts.
He lifted his palm and watched the ashes scatter, and Colin finally let down his guard.
"Master!"
Renee's voice suddenly came calling.
He looked in the direction of the sound.
Renee and Demi were paddling towards him in a lifeboat.
Mod, who was standing nearby, caught sight of him alive and his face lit up with relief and surprise before he quickly sat down, grabbing the two oars at the stern of the boat to row toward him.
Five minutes later.
Puff—Puff—
The steam engine of the Sea Swallow began to work, its robust power spinning the paddles below the boat at high speed.
Inside the captain's cabin.
Colin approached the window, gazing into the distance at the crescent-shaped Rael Island.
Renee and Mod had already been sent to rest.
The silvery moonlight enveloped the outside.
For some reason, the more he looked, the more the crescent-shaped Rael Island seemed to resemble the raised crown of an unknown colossal beast.
The moonlight was clear and bright, yet it couldn't penetrate the inky blackness of the sea.
Such speculation made him shiver.
Shaking his head, he discarded the excess thoughts and, with a thought, summoned the Golden Paper.
Pale golden particles gathered.
After seeing clearly, his expression darkened.
The just recently Limit Breaking Fireball Skill II had once again become Fireball Skill I (93/100), and behind Arrow Shooting Skill, a golden progression also mysteriously appeared (96/100).
Moreover, the progress of the Flying and Diving Skill had dropped to 43/100, and the progress of Steel Temperature Resistance Field had also dropped to 8/100.
Colin exhaled gently and turned off the Golden Paper.
Such results had been anticipated by him when he obtained the Foolishness Scepter.
After all, this was the single biggest flaw of the Foolishness Scepter...
Regardless, at the very least, he had successfully escaped the crisis, and he could continue to improve his witchcraft progress in the future.
After checking the Golden Paper, Colin sat cross-legged on the spot, beginning to restore his Magic Power.
The sea was fraught with dangers at night, and the drained Magic Power inside him truly left him feeling insecure.
It would be fine if he stayed still, as the probability of encountering danger was not as high as when moving constantly.
But now, he had to move... he did not want to anchor so close to Rael Island.
Whoosh—Whoosh—
The Sea Swallow shut down all its lights, continually advancing on the pitch-black ocean, like a ghost.
But the night would eventually end, and after an indeterminable time, the golden sun rose again from the sea horizon.
Brilliant sunlight spread across the ocean, the sky became clear and bright again, and the sea turned back to azure blue.
Screech—Screech—
White seabirds appeared out of nowhere once again.
Colin stepped out of the captain's room, and seeing such a scene, his mood involuntarily lightened.
Thus, day followed night, and tides rose and fell.
During the next half month of their voyage, they encountered no major crises.
Some attacks from merfolk demons were effortlessly dealt with by Colin.
In this way, on January 3 of the year 3584 by the Yanan Calendar, they finally reached the Siya Continent!