The roaring sound of the seawater gradually cleared Ryan's vision.
Moonlight spilled onto his face, illuminating a flush.
This time, the amount was simply too great, almost equivalent to all previous accumulations multiplied several times over.
If it weren't for other things distracting his attention, Ryan would have found it very difficult to maintain his mental stability.
If Dark Magic were to erupt here unrestrained, even the most foolish reef would be affected...
As Ryan squeezed the air from his chest, he looked around.
The distant seawater was still flowing.
But the nearby seawater, including the reefs beneath his feet, seemed to be confined by some invisible force.
Dark purple light coiled and flowed in the surrounding air, and gloomy power accumulated, like long-dormant miasma ready to explode at any moment.
And he was the 'fuse'.
As long as he harbored a dangerous thought, the entire beach, reef area, and even the nearby sea would sink under the power of darkness.
But thankfully, he managed to restrain himself in the end.
Ryan calmed his breathing, adapting to the surging Dark Magic.
The reefs remained motionless, but the nearby seawater slowly regained its freedom.
If he had needed to devise tactics to defeat Hui before, now he felt he could directly brute-force it with magic; the main strategy was simply a large, satisfying quantity.
This feeling of power filling him made Ryan extremely satisfied.
He could speak louder now; after all, what good are ten toes?
Two feet can do a lot more!
Moreover, after this dream, his mind was surprisingly unaffected by those chaotic, strange things.
"I am human."
Ryan stated his identity without hesitation.
But when he instinctively looked up at the moon, what appeared in his mind were not words describing the beauty of the moonlight, but... a pair of exquisite artistic creations.
No, that's not right.
He was still affected!
Ryan suddenly realized.
As expected of the wicked Syndra, she could even affect someone with such a strong will as himself!
Had the twisted worldview stopped working, and she was resorting to adult-rated methods now?
A troubled Ryan roused his brain cells.
Soon, he directly took out an unpainted scroll.
The simplest way to desensitize oneself is through familiarity.
After he perfectly replicated what he saw onto the scroll using painting magic, Ryan placed it in the foremost position.
Although Syndra was wicked, she ultimately underestimated a transmigrator.
What effect could using this to test a cadre have?
Just look at it a hundred times, and by then, his heart would surely be as still as water.
Perfectly countering the wicked temptation, Ryan hid his stored items again, and after confirming there were no problems, he returned to the treehouse.
The next morning, Ryan packed his bags and left the beach where he had lived for two years.
Layers of waves slowly crept up the fine yellow sand, as if bidding farewell to their neighbor...
...
...
"A brief separation is only temporary; sooner or later, old friends will have a chance to meet again."
Mill Town.
The open space in front of a certain tavern.
Ryan spoke to the red-eyed drunkard, who was crying, in the tone of someone who had seen it all.
There were still forty-eight hours until the exhibition at Gouya Temple.
And Ryan was not going to let this precious time fly by waiting.
After testing and finding that the Spirit of Nature indeed showed no hostility towards his departure, he passed through the lush forest and arrived at this town located below Gouya.
In Hui's description, this town had lost its former prosperity.
But for Ryan, who had lived by the sea for a long time, he saw more people in this town than he had in two years combined.
Contrary to his imagination, the town was still peaceful at this time.
A comfortable atmosphere of continuous music and dancing permeated all the streets and alleys.
This made Ryan sigh with emotion, that humans are often stronger than they imagine.
They can regain hope in brokenness and can defy the odds in desperate situations.
But there are always exceptions...
After Ryan walked through three streets, he saw this drunken man.
The man was slumped on the ground like a mud monster, wailing the name of a woman.
He thought the owner of this name might be the man's friend or lover...
In the face of the storms of war, people are as fragile as dandelions, helplessly scattered by the wind.
But it's always good to retain some hope in one's heart.
So Ryan tried to comfort the drunkard, and his comfort indeed worked.
The drunkard, like a helpless two-hundred-pound child, tried to hug Ryan's leg.
The latter, however, skillfully dodged him.
He was willing to comfort the other party, but he was unwilling to get his only clothes dirty.
Fortunately, the drunkard's emotions, or rather the alcohol concentration in his blood, reached its peak, and after failing to grab Ryan's leg, he fell straight to the ground.
Amidst earth-shattering snores, Ryan walked to the main entrance of the tavern and then stopped.
There was no concept of minors being prohibited from drinking in Ionia, and his age had definitely reached the years where he could digest alcohol, but the problem was... he had no money.
During his two years on the beach, Hui and the local residents nearby would give him fresh food.
He himself, relying on his fishing skills, which were called 'Air Force One', could also stumble upon some foolish fish washed ashore.
But no one gave him money, and no money would be washed ashore by the sea.
Smelling the rich aroma of wine wafting from the tavern, Ryan, who hadn't drunk any flavorful liquid for over two years, unconsciously swallowed.
There was a consensus throughout the entire Valoran region that all wines produced in Ionia were the best of the best.
The best ingredients often only require the simplest cooking methods, and wines brewed from these magic-infused grains were far more effective than the ancient techniques of other places.
Ryan had never drunk it, but he had read about other heroes' praise for Ionian wine in background stories.
Just as he was wondering if he could use Hui's name to get something cheap, he suddenly keenly sensed a gaze.
He looked up and saw a man in his forties with a reddened nose from drinking, looking at him from inside the tavern.
"Want a drink, young man?"
The man raised the wine glass in his hand to Ryan.
"Yes, but I have no money." Ryan's gaze was frank.
"I'll treat you." The man waved generously, "Just for what you said earlier."
"Thank you."
Ryan walked into the tavern.
He did not doubt the man's intentions.
After all, that was the nature of Ionian people; they always had a little more kindness than people from other places.
And what if the other party really had bad intentions...
His Dark Magic was already ravenous!
The First Land did not allow Dark Magic to destroy the harmonious environment of Ionia, but Ryan felt that 'bad people' certainly did not count as part of a harmonious environment.
Perhaps if he killed someone, the First Land would even thank him!