After going into the sea, I met the witch.

Freyne and Cecilia had been waiting inside for quite some time.

"Mr. Ryan, you're not affected?"

Looking at Ryan, whose eyes were clear and devoid of any negative emotions such as irritability or violence, Freyne's face showed surprise.

“I don’t know why either.” Ryan shook his head. “It might be due to individual constitution.”

There are some things he can't explain too much.

"Speaking of which, this eerie blood-red moonlight gives me a feeling similar to the bloodthirsty and frenzied monsters in the Mingjin Forest that have been influenced by special spirituality."

"Lady Freyne, do you know what happened?"

The witch's expression was solemn as she spoke, enunciating each word clearly: "Witch's power."

"A witch?" Ryan was stunned.

He had considered other possibilities, but the witch's power truly exceeded his expectations.

The power of the witch refers to the power wielded by sea witches. This power is independent of the class system and is also known as "heretic power".

As for why it was called that, Ryan had no idea.

The only sea witch that Ryan knows of so far is Freyne.

The current anomaly is actually related to the power of the witch. Does this mean that there is a second sea witch on the Whirlpool Islands?

How powerful must this sea witch be to cause such a terrifying and widespread change?

Ryan couldn't imagine it.

Even the Rathalos leader is inferior to it.

This is a power at a different level.

“Yes, witch.” Freyne repeated, confirming Ryan’s question, and continued in a heavy voice, “Right now, all the crew members on the Black Rose have been affected by the Crimson Moon and have gone mad. Most of them are in the lower cabins. Without the control of many crew members, the three of us alone cannot control a level 5 sailing cruiser.”

"Although I can use the witch's power to travel on the sea for a short time, I cannot sustain it for long."

"In other words, we're trapped here."

"If you want to leave, you either have to wait for the blood moon to dissipate on its own and the sky to return to normal, or we have to take the initiative to deal with the root cause of the blood moon."

"It's a little past five in the morning, but the Whirlpool Islands are still in darkness with a blood moon in the sky. Judging from this, it's unlikely that the blood moon will dissipate on its own anytime soon."

After Freyne finished speaking, an unspeakable silence fell over the room.

Ryan glanced at the knight girl standing behind Freya and noticed that Cecilia had her head slightly lowered and her gaze unfocused, as if she was thinking about something. He then looked away.

A few seconds later, Freya spoke first:

"There's no need to worry too much."

"Right now, the three of us are barely affected by the blood moon, so we can stay on the ship for the time being and observe how things develop."

"By the way, this is for you."

A flash of light appeared on Freyne's pale white finger, revealing a dark blue spatial ring. Then, twenty thumb-sized, pale white crystals appeared on the table in front of her.

"This item is called [Tier 1 Spirituality Enhancement Crystal]. Each of you should use ten crystals. After use, it will further enhance your spirituality. If you use all ten crystals, it will roughly increase the spirituality cap of a Tier 1 Limit Profession by 33%, and there are no side effects, nor will it affect the difficulty of enhancing your current spirituality."

Freyne's words stunned Ryan, and even Cecilia looked up in astonishment, her beautiful eyes filled with disbelief.

"A treasure that can further increase the spiritual limit?"

This was Cecilia's first time speaking tonight.

“Yes.” Freyne smiled faintly, her eyes revealing the genuine joy of sharing something good with family. “Cecilia, you can also use it in your situation. The increase in your spiritual limit can even allow you to barely recover some of your current combat power.”

"Increasing the upper limit of spirituality is equivalent to strengthening the hardness of the container. Although the old container is still broken, it can withstand greater pressure. Even in a 'glued' state, it can withstand a certain amount of spiritual flow."

Cecilia's pupils gradually dilated, and a visible joy appeared on her usually aloof face: "...That's wonderful."

After her initial joy, Cecilia looked at the witch with concern: "Lady Freyne, this thing is so precious, you..."

“Don’t overthink it, Cecilia.” Freya smiled and shook her head. “This is something I found in the Augustus family’s treasury. Each person can only use a maximum of ten. Any more than that will have no effect. So, don’t worry about me being in danger after obtaining this, or that I won’t have any to use myself after giving it to you.”

The light from the spatial ring in her hand flickered again, and nine more appeared in her hand, which she gently shook at Cecilia.

"Time is of the essence, so use it up as soon as possible. I also need to begin my second-tier advancement." With that, the witch's pale blue eyes turned to the young man: "Mr. Ryan, I will be conducting the advancement ceremony in the captain's cabin later. If any threats arise, I'll leave it to you."

“Leave it to me.” Ryan nodded.

"Hmm." Freyne smiled, her fluffy blue-and-white gradient witch's hat swaying slightly.

……

At the entrance to the captain's cabin.

Ryan leaned against the bulwark by the door frame, examining the crystal in his hand with awe.

The gray text clearly indicated the item's detailed function, which made Ryan realize even more how precious it was.

"One [Tier 1 Spiritual Enhancement Crystal] can increase the maximum spiritual energy by an additional 0.1, ten crystals would increase it by 1.0..."

"Although you can only take ten pills, the effects of this stuff are a bit too exaggerated."

It's important to know that when he initially deepened his affinity with the [Pirate] class, the resulting increase in spirituality was only 0.5, which is equivalent to just 5 [Tier 1 Spirituality Enhancement Crystals].

What's even more impressive is that this extra boost in spirituality does not affect the spirituality boost of his original cultivation path.

This also means that if they reach the same first-order limit, which is 100% compatibility, his spirituality will be 33% higher than others!

Of course, this is only under normal circumstances. Ryan possesses a hidden path profession and feedback from his wandering clones. When he reaches the first-tier limit, his spirituality may even be higher than that of the second tier.

“Freni…”

Looking at the crystal in his palm, Ryan felt a complex mix of emotions.

He could no longer calculate how much kindness he had received from the girl.

After a few seconds of silence, he opened his mouth and swallowed the [Tier 1 Spiritual Enhancement Crystal].

Although this thing is only the size of a thumb, it is quite amazing. It melts in your mouth and you won't choke on it.

In about ten seconds, the warm current in his body disappeared, and Ryan felt as if he were soaking in a hot spring, warm and comfortable.

His [Spirituality] stat on the panel also increased by 0.1.

After a short break, he continued taking drugs.

And so, Ryan ate one crystal after another, finishing them in just a few minutes, and his [Spirituality] increased by 1.0 as expected.

[Spirituality]: 2.8 → 3.8

The feeling of spiritual elevation is different from that of physical enhancement; the latter is more tangible, while the former seems more ethereal.

After [Spirituality] is increased, it not only provides a powerful boost to professional skills, but also allows Ryan to try [Sword Skills] that he could not perform in the past.

【Storm Sword Skill - Breaking Wave】 is divided into three stages: Stage 1, Stage 2, and Stage 3 charging.

Besides the factors of perception, there are also some basic prerequisites to reach these three levels.

A single energy accumulation phase consists of 1.0 [Physical Strength] and 1.0 [Spiritual Strength].

The second stage of power accumulation is 2.0 [Physical Strength] and 2.0 [Spirituality].

The three stages of power accumulation are 3.0 [Physical Strength] and 3.0 [Spiritual Strength].

In the past, limited by his weak spirituality, Ryan's main body could only achieve "one stage of charging" even if he tried his best, while his wandering clone could only achieve "one and a half stages of charging".

But things are different now.

With a Spirituality of 3.8 and a Physique of 9.46, Ryan can easily perform second or even third stages of power accumulation.

The only limitation he faced was his own understanding of swordsmanship.

Because he had to "protect" Freyne, Ryan did not practice swordsmanship at this time.

Ryan looked up, gazing at the blood-red moon high in the sky, and sighed softly.

He just wanted to live a good life, so why are so many people and so many things forcing him to do this?

……

While Freyne was undergoing a rank advancement, on the other side, in the Forest of Sounding Metal.

The seated Black Knight and two ordinary Black Knights had already met at the entrance to the forest.

The three men's expressions were extremely serious.

Along the way, apart from those who embarked on a professional career, all the other ordinary people went mad.

Those sea monsters that landed from the surrounding waters and had some ability to walk on land gradually poured into the Forest of Mingjin. As for the sea monsters that could not land, they all gathered around the central Mingjin Island.

A rough estimate suggests that there are more than fifty sea monsters on the surface of the sea.

What an enormous number! It far exceeds the current number of professionals on the Whirlpool Islands.

And this is without including the monsters inside the Forest of Roaring Gold.

It is foreseeable that the interior of the Forest of Mingjin is now almost teeming with monsters, making it a veritable "monster's lair".

Even the Black Knights, whose seats were filled with power, had extremely heavy expressions in their eyes.

"The source of the witch's power lies in the deepest part of the Forest of Mingjin." The Black Knight of the Seat spoke in a deep voice: "You have also noticed that the closer you get to the Forest of Mingjin, the weaker the influence of the Blood Moon becomes, and the interference of the 'Whispers' will gradually disappear."

"This is forcing all the creatures on the Whirlpool Islands to move closer to the Forest of Roaring Gold."

"I don't know what this unknown witch's purpose is, but since we, as Black Knights, the Empire's sharpest blade, have encountered a heretic like a witch..."

There is absolutely no reason for them to be let off!

"The Forest of Mingjin is teeming with monsters. With our strength, we are bound to be injured or even killed."

"The most terrifying witch is in the very center of the forest, so I need to conserve my strength before I meet her. Would you be willing to escort me along the way?"

"We are at your service, sir!" The two ordinary black knights bowed without the slightest hesitation, striking each other with their left hands.

"Let's go!" Upon seeing this, the Black Knight nodded emphatically and led two Black Knights into the Forest of Roaring Gold.

Even with the crimson moonlight filtering through the gaps in the branches and leaves, the forest of Mingjin in the night was still very dark, with extremely low visibility.

This would be difficult for other professionals, but it had almost no impact on the Black Knight.

The so-called Black Knight, or Night Knight in full, is a variant advanced class derived from the Night Watchers by the Augustan royal family.

The Black Knights are at their strongest when they are in the darkness of night.