The slight swaying and tilting of the boat somehow made Ethan light-headed. He was used to the ocean waves during his travel, but after having a good rest on the land for a few days, he now feels like his adaptability went back to zero.
"Eh… In a few more days, I'll get used to this again."
Ethan could clearly foresee that it would take quite some time before another clumped time-space energy would appear, and as such, he felt like he'll get used to the ocean waves once more... after some time, that is.
"First, I have to sort out this… stuff,"
Ethan glanced at his left hand which was carrying nothing. But on his right hand, a large bag could be seen. The puffiness of the baggage made it apparent that the bag was quite full.
"If I am not wrong, I did hold a few things on my left hand before I left… Why was it gone? Is due to the magical array?" Ethan pondered for a while before arriving at a convoluted, but a somehow reasonable conclusion,
"The magic array is limited on how much I can carry? And thus, I am unable to use my left hand that bears the magic circle when returning? Sound about… right."
The magic within the Plane Transporter array seemed to be limited in various ways. It might have been affected by different variables, which were something that is still unknown to the current Ethan.
"That's unfortunate. My days of travel would become a lot better if I could bring more things back." Ethan quietly muttered. He was quite saddened by the fact that the array wasn't potent, but it still somehow excited now that he acquired a few important things and knowledge back.
Ethan's current body was still that of a seventeen-year-old boy. As he did not belong to an extremely rich family, his physical health was quite mediocre. Even if he worked his ass off 24/7 to get stronger, it would not do much of a difference.
Although Ethan could use his mental and spiritual energy to assist him— Even the explosive force from that energy would not be enough to carry things that are over a few hundred pounds. There would obviously be limits to everything.
" — Heh, and here I am thinking about bringing a new boat… I guess it would be something that is impossible for now."
The boat prepared by Ethan's father was a very ordinary one. A small wooden boat with an old and ragged sail attached to a single mast. The length of it from front to rear is less than ten meters. The food and water storage, which were just wooden barrels, were not even covered by a tarp or a shed.
Sailing in such a crude ship, Ethan felt that the raging sea could easily send him to his death. Towering waves could easily overturn his boat without much effort.
But after a few days, he was surprised to witness that the sea was as calm and serene as ever. It was quite a peculiar occurrence that bothered Ethan. Not only did he not see any changes in the color of the sea— as it never turned into dark blue signifying torrential waters— But the weather changes were quite scarce as well. When the waves were the "strongest", they could barely cause the small wooden boat to shake.
"There are things and places in this world that I still don't understand."
After sorting out the things he brought back from the Marvel World, Ethan immediately pulled the anchors back and raised the sails. He then picked a random direction and headed off.
He originally wanted to use the ball pointer to seek for another location. Without a clear destination, finding the next place with the use of time and space energy became the most reliable way for Ethan to resupply.
However, after resummoning the energy ball that contained the pointer, Ethan discovered that the familiar arrow was nowhere to be seen. Instead, a row of repetitive words appeared— 'Searching'
"It seems that this "time-space energy" is not something you could easily find."
Putting out the pointer ball away, Ethan could only think about what to do next,
"I just hope I could see land. This world can't really be all just seawater, right? Suppose I came from an island."
Back in his island, he only heard of rumors about a land bigger and wider than one could imagine. Even though unproven, Ethan could not just throw the possibility away. He himself was a witness to things that are "miraculous" at this point. Common sense might not work sometimes.
In his fortune upon the miraculous event, he was happy that he was able to learn the 'water-making' spell that was taught by the Ancient One to solve the problem of potable water. It wasn't necessarily 'making' water out of nothing, it was more of purifying what is already available— seawater.
"Considering the fact that I do not know when I could replenish supplies, I should scarcely consume food for the next few days, as water is not a problem anymore"
Ethan doesn't want to die at sea. Pinning his hopes upon the appearance of time-space energy was quite reckless as well, and as such, he should properly prepare himself for the worse that might come. Ethan begins to plan what to do next.
He keenly gathered all the food he has and divided them into adequate amounts, enough for him to survive for a long time. After that, he sorted out the myriad of books and started reading the one suggested by the Ancient One herself.
"The Ancient One said that my qualifications are average. It doesn't mean that I couldn't possibly learn anything, right? If it was the case, then there was no point for her to give me all these. I should be able to do some of what this book says."
With this, Ethan lived a bland and boring life sailing through the boundless seas.
Waking up every morning to sparingly eat something, just so he could maintain his physical strength for the day, Then control the boat in a random, yet fixed direction. After fixing the sails and the rudder, he would then return to the center of the boat and started reading the book and practicing the water-making technique.
He used the unwary days to keep practicing the purification technique. As he gets better and better, Ethan could produce much more than what he could originally make. It started with as much as a wooden spoon-full of water at a time, but now, it was possible for him to do half a bucket at one go.
"I can't go any much better than this. It really drains my mental energy. But it is still better than what I did back then. I could only do a drop of water. It's amazing what you could do with a simple spell paired with a rigorous practice." Ethan smiled. Satisfaction was apparent on his face.
After being able to produce half a bucket in one go, Ethan could not only make drinkable water for him to consume but also water which he could use to have a simple cold shower. It felt way different when one bathes with fresh water in comparison with drenching oneself with the salty ocean water. It made his bland and monotonous sailing life a little less uncomfortable.
As for his studies with the book the Ancient One handed to him, 'Introduction to Spiritual Foundation', the most Ethan could understand in its first parts were about mental exercise and the way of meditation— It was too vague and mysterious for the young Ethan to immediately understand. After three days of keenly studying the book without learning much, Ethan was starting to have doubts about his IQ.
"Am I dumb or what? It's taking a while… what am I missing?"
It wasn't until three more days later when he inadvertently used his mental energy while reading and finally found the 'correct method' to understand the introductory article. His self-doubt was somehow relinquished, albeit slowly.
"Was this a test left by the Ancient One for me?"
Ethan, who now learned the ways of 'proper' reading, could not spare too much time learning the book and have other things to do every day. After practicing the 'water-making' technique, he would then start meditating to restore his mental strength, before attempting to read the mystical introductory article with his mental power and improve his mental strength.
As his spiritual power slowly increase, he gradually came into contact with some 'hidden information' in the book. According to the book, no matter the faction of the mage, his/her power relies on the core from where the spell originated. The strength of one's mental power is directly related to the strength of a mage's magic and the ability to manipulate it as he/she sees fit.
Even if a powerful mage could possibly kill someone with a powerful mental strength without using much magic power— very few mages do so. Most of these wizards and sorcerers do not utilize their mental power to directly attack someone.
A broader information was also provided within the book;
Mental power is something that is too important. It is a pathway to one's 'source'; such as the existence of a soul, and as such— the use of mental power to attack the enemy directly is like revealing to them your soul and entity. Something like a direct contact, which might interlink both mental energies, could cause insurmountable self-damage.
Therefore, when mages cast attacks, they try and control other energies as much as possible— the use of so-called Magic.
Magic is a general term, it does not specify a certain type of energy. According to the book, even water can be used to perform magic. Fire energy, Arcane Energy, Holy Light Energy, are types of energy which a mage could use, albeit the energy should be within his or her capability— One's qualification and cultivation strength are important.
For example, in the first few years, one would use different types of energy to be able to cast magic. Ethan remembered back then, in the movie Doctor Strange, where the Ancient one extracts a different type of energy from the Dark Plane to be able to maintain her youth and cast various types of strong spells. This is the way of a "powerful master mage" — as long as the energy is strong, it can be used as magic.
All these things should still be under the premise that a mage would have enough mental strength, otherwise, even if one finds unlimited infinitely powerful energy, they would still not be able to make use of it in casting magic.
In Ethan's perspective; the theory emphasized within the book is that magic is some sort of a "nail", and mental energy acts as a tool— a "hammer", for one to be able to use the said nail. Directly stabbing someone with nails might hurt you in the process, but driving a hammer with the nail would do wonders instead. With the use of such a tool, the risks of self-inflicted damage would be minimized.
As for the knowledge of brewing, extraction, storage, etc. — different types and uses of magic, even if Ethan knows that these things are within the book, it currently did not give him any details for any. It could only mean that he was not qualified to know, for now.
"Heh, am I being looked down by a book now? Hahaha"
Ethan dismissed the thought, as he was quite satisfied with what he was able to learn. Even if the book revealed such a thing, he would not be able to do any of it. His spiritual strength and affinity are still not strong enough. The stronger the force required for a magic, the lesser his qualification would be to be able to cast one— to become an actual mage.
Therefore, if he wants to learn, he needs to become stronger first. What he has to do now was exercise his mental strength and wait until it would be strong enough before thinking about casting and using different types of magic.
"Eh?... A storm?" Ethan exclaimed. His gaze set towards the grim and cloudy horizon.
It has been almost a month since he returned from the Marvel world, it was his first time seeing something in the distance that wasn't the boundless sea. Endless black clouds trailed with extremely heavy rains that looks like a city wall startled Ethan.
"Tsk… I have to turn around."
Seeing the perilous situation awaiting him, only a fool would continue moving forward. There was no need for him to enter the storm's range. The strength of even a single wave near the storm would be strong enough to topple his boat over.
Just as Ethan was about to turn the boat around and quickly leave the place, a loud cry of help suddenly resounded. "Huh? Who's there?" Ethan stopped pulling the sails down and searched the turmoiled waters.
He stood up at the boat's tip and used a pair of telescopes, which was handed by the Ancient One herself. With the help of the telescope, Ethan quickly found the source of the cries.
"A wreckage?... A ship wreckage in the storm?"
Keenly looking through the wreckage of a ship, Ethan saw two figures holding tightly onto a wooden board and were frantically waving. Seeing the grave situation, Ethan did not hesitate and immediately readjusted the direction of the ship, slightly tugging the sail, moving the boat towards the storm, aiming to help the two people that fell in the water.