Awoo!

The wolf's howl behind him was so powerful it created a shockwave that slammed into Merlin's back.

Merlin stumbled forward but quickly regained his balance and kept running.

He glanced over his shoulder and saw the wolf still chasing him.

"Damn it!" Merlin cursed as he accelerated using wind magic.

Unfortunately, the monster was incredibly fast. In less than two minutes, the distance between them had narrowed to only twenty meters.

Merlin knew he was going to be caught. With no other choice, he clenched his fist and shouted, "Gravity Magic: Absolute Pull!"

Thud!

The wolf's body was instantly pinned in place by an overwhelming gravitational force. It struggled to resist but failed.

Slowly, its four legs began to buckle until its belly finally hit the wooden floor.

Merlin grinned. Gravity magic was one of his specialties—there was no way the monster could escape so easily.

But then, something surprising happened. The wolf, which had seemed completely pinned down, suddenly stood up. The crushing gravitational pull no longer seemed to affect it.

"What!?" Merlin's eyes widened in shock. "H-How is that possible!?"

But he had no time to react. The monster opened its mouth wide, and a massive sound wave shot toward him.

Awoo!

The wave was powerful enough to shatter everything in its path—wooden walls, doors, and anything else in the corridor crumbled instantly.

"Damn it!" Merlin cursed inwardly.

He stopped in his tracks, turned around, and pressed his palms together.

"Earth Magic: Golem Hand!"

Boom!

A two-meter-tall giant hand burst from the ground. Its palm faced the incoming sound wave before slamming into it with tremendous force.

Boom!

A massive explosion erupted, and thick brown smoke billowed upward, spreading in all directions and obscuring the corridor from view.

Merlin covered his face with his arm and coughed repeatedly. But he didn't linger—he immediately turned around and fled once more.

The wolf monster howled in rage. It was a powerful level-eight monster, yet a weak boy had repeatedly managed to fend off its attacks, making it furious.

The monster crouched, then leaped forward nearly ten meters and resumed chasing Merlin, who was already sprinting ahead.

Explosion after explosion rang out behind him. Merlin glanced back occasionally and saw the monster was closing in fast.

Suddenly, Merlin spotted a left turn ahead. He maneuvered smoothly around the corner and noticed a door on the left side not far from the turn.

The door blended into the wooden wall, making it difficult to notice the hidden room behind it.

Merlin quickly slipped inside and shut the door tightly.

He didn't forget to cast a spell over the door's surface.

Once he felt safe, he caught his breath and waited quietly.

"That monster shouldn't be able to find me," he muttered, letting out a long sigh.

Then he looked up and carefully surveyed the room.

The room was quiet and empty. There was nothing inside except a table and a chair at the far end.

"An office?" Merlin's eyebrows rose slightly.

He scanned every corner but found nothing of interest.

Then he walked toward the table and stopped right in front of it.

On its surface lay a thick, gold-bound book, its cover faded with age.

A name was written on it: Van D'Sersan.

"What a unique name," Merlin murmured in amazement.

The name reminded him of people from the medieval era in his previous world.

Merlin picked up the book and ran his fingers across its cover before opening to the first page.

There was nothing special, only a few introductory words. He flipped to the next page and saw a title written at the top: My Voyage.

"A journal?" Merlin blinked in surprise.

The title clearly suggested someone was recording their daily life in this book.

His gaze drifted downward, and he began to read.

["Day One. This is my first time at sea, and I'm sure it will be the most valuable experience of my life! Even though many people scoffed and even insulted me, I didn't care at all. After all, I no longer had any hope of becoming the family heir. Why should I stay there and do nothing?"]

"Wow! This is the journal of a nobleman's son!" Merlin exclaimed in amazement.

He had thought it belonged to an ordinary sailor. Who would have guessed the owner of the ship was actually a nobleman?

It must be noted that, no matter the kingdom, nobles always looked down on sailors as poor commoners.

It was extremely rare—almost unheard of—for the children of noble families to choose a life at sea.

At least, in Merlin's lifetime, he had never seen a single noble do such a thing. Van D'Seran was the first, though the man was likely long dead by now.

Merlin continued reading.

["Hey, I'm really, really happy! Seeing the ocean from a ship is so much fun! Why didn't anyone tell me this? If I'd known, I would've spent the first two years after the heir announcement just sailing around, damn it! I could've met up with my friends and also… some pretty women!"]

The corner of Merlin's mouth twitched. Although he didn't know what Van D'Seran looked like, he was certain the man must have had an annoying face.

["By the way, I heard a famous legend about a ghost ship. Supposedly, any ship that encounters it will sink. Is that true?"]

Merlin was startled and muttered, "A ghost ship? How is that even possible?"

Then he recalled Gerhan's story and narrowed his eyes.

'Could the ghost ship that man heard about be the same one he encountered?'

That was the only plausible explanation.

["Day Two. Everything was still going as usual. My goal is to go to the island across the sea called Teorene. According to my crew, there are lots of beautiful women there. Hehehe! I can't wait to see them. Maybe I'll meet my soulmate there. After all, I'm single now—especially after my fiancée broke up with me when she found out I wanted to be a sailor. Well, who cares? That woman was so annoying and naggy. It's better not to get married at all than to marry someone like her."]

"Pfft! This guy is really something," Merlin chuckled.

It wasn't just Van D'Sersan—many other noblemen also disliked their own fiancées.

And they all had the same reason: their fiancées' personalities and behavior made them uncomfortable.

Of course, that didn't apply to Merlin. His fiancée was Luna—one of the heroines of this world.

How could he possibly hate her?

Merlin pushed the thought aside and returned to reading the book.

["Day Twenty. After days of boredom, I finally arrived at Teorene Island. And you know what? This place is amazing! Coconut trees line the beach, and most importantly, the women are incredibly beautiful! Their skin is a bit dark, but that doesn't take away from their beauty. They used leaves and cloth as clothing, and to me, it was a unique and unfamiliar sight. I never thought leaves could be used as clothes."]

In that journal entry, Van D'Seran described his time on Teorene Island. From his words, it was clear he genuinely enjoyed the place.

There was even a section describing his encounter with a woman named Jaline, a native of the island.

Van D'Seran was attracted to her, and as it turned out, Jaline felt the same way.

Unfortunately, Van D'Seran had to continue his journey and decided not to get further involved with her.

He didn't know whether he would ever be able to return to the island. Since matters of the heart were complicated, Van D'Seran didn't want to hurt Jaline, so he chose to continue his journey around the world.

"What a unique man," Merlin murmured in admiration.

It was hard to imagine most men making the same decision.

After all, in this world, there was no rule stating that one could only marry one woman.

Merlin kept reading, and before he knew it, he had already finished nearly half the page.

["Year Five. I've begun to lose interest in the life of a sailor. Of course, I don't hate it. It's just that anything done continuously eventually loses its excitement. By the way, I've already circumnavigated a quarter of this world. I won't give up until I fulfill my dream!"]

Merlin nodded in satisfaction. Although the man was growing tired, he showed no signs of giving up on his dream.

Merlin greatly admired people like that. But suddenly, his attention was drawn to the next entry.

["In the eighth year, I discovered something strange. For some reason, every night, I felt restless. It was as though something was following our ship from behind. Could it just be my imagination? But it happened every day, and it couldn't possibly be a hallucination, could it? Moreover, the other crew members felt the same thing I did."]

Merlin's heart raced. He didn't know if his suspicion was correct, but it seemed likely that whatever had been following Van D'Sersan was the ghost ship Gerhan had mentioned earlier that afternoon.

"Don't tell me what happened to Van D'Seran was caused by the ghost ship Gerhan told me about? If that's true…" His eyes narrowed. "Does that mean our enemy is incredibly powerful?"