After fully savoring the thrill of flight, Ron landed atop the ship's mast and sat down cross-legged, his gaze focused and calm. He began analyzing the changes within himself.
"Thinking speed about twice as fast as before."
"Spirit energy can now be released externally. I can fly freely."
"Spirit recovery is three times faster. I can cast first-tier spells endlessly now—their cost recovers almost instantly."
Each of these changes brought immense benefits. Faster thought meant faster casting. Even second-tier spells could probably be released within half a second now. The difficulty was still there, but the doubled processing speed gave him the foundation to start studying third-tier magic.
The boosted recovery was equally invaluable it was the key to prolonged battles.
But beyond these, there was one more, far greater transformation that came with reaching fifty Spirit points: the awakening of the spiritual perspective.
With a single thought, Ron's physical eyes lost their luster, his expression blanking as his spirit seemed to rise out of his body, hovering above it.
This was different from that earlier experience that nearly tore his mind apart when he glimpsed the branches of the World Tree. Now he could enter this state freely, safely.
He named this condition Spiritual Vision.
At first, he had thought his soul truly left his body. But he later realized that wasn't the case. His consciousness remained bound to his body it had simply loosened those restraints. His mind could extend beyond his flesh, creating this strange, detached point of view.
From within this state, his vision became limitless a full 360-degree field of perception.
There were no blind spots, no dependency on his eyes. He could "see" behind himself, above, below every direction at once.
And even more shocking: he was no longer limited by the speed of his eyes. His observation rate matched the speed of his thoughts.
He could see ocean waves creep like syrup. He could see the slow flap of a seagull's wings across the sky. He could even see Nami emerging from the cabin in slow motion—her steps, her expression, every tiny motion stretched into infinite detail.
The entire world seemed slowed by dozens of times.
And that wasn't all. When focusing, he could see through matter. Steel, wood, cloth it made no difference. His vision could penetrate it all.
His hearing also changed. In this state, he could filter sound at will, discarding noise and extracting only what he wished to hear.
"It feels… like I'm controlling everything," Ron murmured, almost entranced.
Every sense obeyed his will. His perception reached every corner of the world around him. It was a feeling of divinity like gazing down from beyond reality itself.
But he didn't linger in it for long. He quickly withdrew from the state, descending from the mast to where Nami had rushed out. He casually explained that he had just learned a flying-type spell.
Nami, as usual, was both curious and jealous. She tried to imitate him with no success, and finally could only stare at him with pitiful eyes until Ron felt so awkward he slipped away back to the stern.
At the back of the ship, he drew a deep breath and steadied his mind.
He could not afford to lose himself in this illusion of godhood. The so-called divine feeling was nothing more than a trick of perception. His strength, while growing fast, was still small. He needed to keep moving forward.
"Still… if the spirit grows strong enough, could it one day exist without the body?"
The thought lingered.
His spirit could not yet separate completely, but this Spiritual Vision felt like the first sign of that evolution. Perhaps one day, when his mental power became truly vast, he would no longer need his physical form at all—he could freely create one whenever he desired.
If that day came, death itself might cease to exist for him. So long as his spirit endured, he would live on eternally.
That was the kind of power he dreamed of.
After a long moment of contemplation, he smiled faintly, exhaled, and clenched his fist.
"Spiritual Vision sounds too plain," he said, tapping the wand in his hand. "That state just now… let's call it Divine Mode instead."
He had thought of "God Mode," but this world had no gods, and "Divine Mode" sounded far more fitting dramatic but true to the feeling.
"Now then, time to finish the fire runes."
Ron gripped his wand.
He had mastered three of the eight fire-element derivative runes so far—one more than wind. But the second-tier fire spell, Explosion Flame, didn't combine well with his wind magic. It couldn't take advantage of wind-fire synergy, so he needed a new second-tier fire spell that could complement Gale Slash.
With fifty Spirit points, his ability to explore runes had skyrocketed again. His mind could now test tens of thousands of rune configurations every hour.
At that nearly superhuman speed, it took him only three days to master the remaining five fire-element derivative runes.
Under the starry sky, Ron sat calmly at the top of the mast, lowering his wand.
Ever since he learned to fly, he preferred this perch it felt far more dignified for a magician than sitting by the rudder.
A crisp chime sounded in his ear.
[Achievement unlocked: Rune Master — +2 Achievement Points.]
"All done."
A satisfied smile crossed his face.
With the transformation from reaching fifty Spirit points, rune analysis had become effortless. The eight fire runes were now his.
He opened the achievement interface, added the two points into Spirit as usual then blinked.
Something was flashing on the right side of the main panel. The section representing his profession was glowing.
"Huh?"
Ron tilted his head and opened it.
[Notice: Total Achievements reached 35 points. Rune Draw unlocked.]
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