To have this spellcaster join the team was purely a matter of luck.
The process was tedious, so I will spare the details.
To summarize briefly, it was six years ago when Bern encountered a storm during a mission that led him off course to a remote sea area rarely visited by anyone, where he discovered the individual being persecuted as an evil demon by the Primitive Tribe living on a nearby deserted island.
A spellcaster naturally attuned to nature, born with such affinity!
The Primitive Tribe was simple-minded, with little contact with the outside world, and coincidentally a plague was rampant; Bern at that ti managed to lure the individual onto his ship with just a few bags of provisions, half a bottle of Healing Potion, and so worthless crude dicines.
Afterwards, he took careful care, blending lies with sincerity, and provided substantial resources for nurturing.
Over the span of six years, the young spellcaster once nad "Cao Luo" by the elder of his tribe, has now beco Bern’s most loyal crew mber.
And Bern himself has been able to continuously reap benefits at sea, leveraging the extraordinary abilities as a spellcaster of his fellow.
"How is it with the situation on that ship?"
Ordering the crew to steer the rudder and sails to maintain a distance from the Black Crow, Bern asked urgently.
"Hmm... a bit odd."
The young spellcaster nad "Cao Luo" was completely self-taught, even though he later gained systematic knowledge on casting through Bern’s resources; he was still inclined to use an instinctive, primitive way to manipulate his spiritual power.
Rather than calling him a "Mage," it would be more apt to describe him as a "Magician," or like the "Priests" found within Beastman Tribes.
"Not many people, totaling only about twenty or so."
"Cao Luo’s eyes sparkled with dazzling magical light, but his tone carried a rare hint of hesitation."
"There’s only five professionals among them."
"Three of them are relatively ordinary, their Professional Level is probably only around Level 2, which we can handle safely."
"Among the other two, the one with slightly weaker aura seems to be a believer of so Divine, slightly shielded, but estimating their life strength, it appears to be just around Level 2, even weaker than the first three adventurers."
"Only the last one, to be honest, I can’t decipher..."
Cao Luo was born on a deserted island in a Primitive Tribe, his exceptional talent revealed his far superior spiritual power at an early age, enabling him to already sense the presence of passing beasts outside the tribe while hiding in his bed at the age of nine.
The painful experience of being treated as an evil demon by tribe mbers due to his talent further strengthened and developed his spiritual thought through tornt.
Cao Luo gradually discovered that during his tis of sorrow, he could seemingly evoke storms and waves; during extre anger, even the thunder from the depths of the clouds would respond.
And under spiritual perception, the abstract aura initially representing life existence transford into so more comprehensible concrete patterns, observing his residing world in an intimately natural manner.
Just take the current scene he’s observing within the spiritual world as an example.
Standing in front of him, Bern who concernedly looked at him, in his spiritual perception, was a long, thin shark with bloody teeth;
On the goods ship not far ahead, ordinary sailors appeared as indistinct outlines, the three weaker adventurers manifested as a "fluttering leaf caught in a whirlwind," "a roar of wild rage," and "two crossed rusty swords";
The presud believer of so Divine manifested as a spinning, descending Gold Coin engraved with a four-leaf clover pattern.
This innate ability helped Cao Luo and the "Flying Fish Oil Barrel" team avoid many troubles, bringing them unimaginable gains.
Many tis, even his face was unseen by the opposing party, yet Cao Luo had already, through his perception, discerned the opposing team’s set-up and strength.
Just now, through the feelings within the spiritual world, he could approximately guess that the "leaf" corresponds to a professional inclined towards agility, the "roar" could be a barbarian or half-orc, while the "crossed swords" represents a Close Combat Warrior.
Typically, he would feel not a shred of hesitation, and promptly disclose the gathered information to Captain Bern to proceed with action.
Even if there was a believer of Divine on board, as long as it’s not of major Divine Favor, simply killing without excessive torture usually wouldn’t provoke Divine concern.
But now, at this mont, Cao Luo appeared extraordinarily hesitant.
And the reason lay with the last of the five adventurers on the opposing ship.
He truly couldn’t decipher.
Cao Luo perceived that this individual must be the highest Professional Level on the opposing ship.
Yet when he concentrated his thought to materialize the opponent’s form within the spiritual world to probe further into their professional category and strength level,
what t his eyes was nothing but an indescribable profound shadow.
Neither the shadow cast by branches blown by the wind, nor the shadow from sunlight upon the body at sunset.
The feeling was hard to articulate.
The closest experience in Cao Luo’s short life maybe was when he was twelve; because the tribal life was exceedingly painful, he attempted to sneak out to sea alone on a raft left near the shore by the tribe one midnight.
As the island shrank from view while drifting away with the raft, cold darkness surrounded.
Perhaps due to the wounds cut during previous tornt by tribe mbers, blood dripped into the sea water.
Moonlight fell faintly, casting a subtle light on the sea surface.
A sharp fin quietly erged from water sound, an imnse, profound shadow glided past beneath the raft.
To this day, Cao Luo can still rember the deathly silence and suffocating stillness in his heart at that mont.
Coupled with being washed ashore by waves the next day, even while being tortured by tribe mbers who discovered his escape attempt, the sensation of being on solid ground instead of the ocean sohow diminished the pain to so extent.
The shadow represented by the last of the adventurers in his spiritual world is akin to this feeling.
This was sothing Cao Luo had never experienced since boarding with Bern.
"Perhaps, we should retreat."
"Retreat!?"
Bern’s eyes widened, his voice filled with disbelief.
"Why? Aren’t they just Level 1, Level 2 adventurers?"
"Is it because of that so-called believer?"
"Dammit, it’s not even Divine Favor, what are you afraid of?"
"To be honest, our whole ship are followers of the Goddess of fortune, rest assured, the goddess will bless us!"
"No, it’s not for that reason..." Cao Luo shook his head forcibly.
Treating Bern as the savior who rescued him from Hell, he already regarded him as a father figure, Bern’s agitated voice naturally caused him to shrink back.
"The ship ahead might carry danger, the last one... I can’t decipher."
Bern’s eyes were fixed firmly on Cao Luo, his jaw clenched tight, emitting a gritty sound.
Suddenly looking back at the deeply laden goods ship ahead, the dissatisfaction on his face was almost visible.
Reason dictated by an adventurer tells him that facing Cao Luo’s warning, even though their own crew’s professionals exceed the opponent in both quantity and level, at tis like these, perhaps retreating would be the safest choice.
Yet simultaneously, greed stemming from his pirate identity tempted him deep inside, suggesting that if they secured the goods on this ship, they might not need to venture out at sea for the whole following year.
The conflicting thoughts fiercely clashed, vying for sovereignty within his mind.
"Bern Boss, they’ve reacted on the other side!"
"Are we going aboard or what?"
"Shut up!" Cursing at the crew mber beside him, he turned his gaze forward.
On the distant deck of the goods ship, sailors holding weapons faintly visible were hurriedly traversing, preparing defenses.
Every second of delay heightened the risks they must face during the assault.
anwhile, as Bern hesitated.
Maybe the pressure from their raised pirate flag overwheld the sailors aboard the opposing ship.
"Whiz!"
The sharp sound of an object ripping through the air erupted overhead.
A bolt shot across the gap between ships, streaking downward.
Landing abruptly near Bern’s feet on the deck.
Like the final straw breaking the cal’s back, the anger from realizing their opponent dared to attack impulsively fueled the pirate aspect within Bern to dominate at this instant.
Buzz—
The scimitar at his waist suddenly unsheathed, raised high.
"Dammit, set sail!"
"Get the ship closer for !"
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