Chapter 120: 10-Point Full Ghost

The keel of the ship is a primary load-bearing component that runs along the bottom center of the vessel from bow to stern.

After discovering an issue with this fractured keel, it was easy to spot what made it unusual—Marcus found that the keel wasn't a single, unbroken piece but showed signs of having been joined together.

Following the seams where the pieces had been joined, he disassembled it, allowing the keel to split neatly into two halves.

Inside, revealed like a mold for casting, was a bone embedded within. It was about a meter long, one end broken, and the other end jointed.

Etched onto it were dense markings of magical runes.

"What kind of bone is this?"

"The presence of magical runes suggests it's the work of a mage!"

"This is a magic item."

"The bone is huge; could it be from a monster? Is it possible for a mid-level monster to have such a large bone, or might it belong to a high-level monster?"

Gort and the others began discussing animatedly as they examined the bone.

Liszt's pupils, deep and vortex-like, allowed him to see through the Eye of Magic. He could perceive the thick flow of magic power within the bone.

The magic seemed eager to escape but was firmly locked in place by the runes carved upon the bone, unable to break free. Only at a few spots where the runes were slightly dimmer did some magic seep out.

At that moment.

Marcus reached out to pry the bone out of the keel.

But as soon as his hand touched the bone, the runes suddenly illuminated one by one. Then, with a splash, these glowing runes quickly extinguished.

A dark beam shot out from the bone, heading straight for Marcus' face.

Marcus reacted swiftly, tossing aside the keel and rolling on the ground like a donkey. The move might not have been graceful, but it was quick. As he rolled, he drew his sword with his backhand, his aura bursting forth to counter the dark beam.

Boom!

The dark beam was successfully blocked.

In mid-air, it suddenly dissipated, forming a faintly luminous humanoid figure. Only the upper half was visible, while the lower half hung like tattered rags. Its facial features were indistinct, but it appeared to be female in shape—it had breasts, full and ample.

It had hands that dangled at its sides, the palms slender, with nails formed from dim light. These nails were at least ten centimeters long.

"Protect the master!" Marcus roared.

The retainer knights, encountering such a bizarre scene for the first time, were somewhat flustered but quickly formed a circle around Liszt. Each pulled out their spears, watching the floating humanoid figure tensely.

Gort took two steps back, swallowing hard. His voice trembled as he asked, "What...what is this?"

"A wraith!"

Liszt had been eagerly anticipating the sight of a wraith. Now, seeing a real wraith, he felt no tension, only a faint excitement stirring within him.

He found this world increasingly intriguing.

Not only did it have magic and aura, dragons and elves, but it also harbored various wondrous beings—the reality of wraiths had been confirmed. So, could the species described in knightly novels, such as vampires, werewolves, unicorns, and harpies, also exist?

Giants and dwarves had also appeared in knightly novels. Did they exist too?

And what about those called elves but were human-like, high-intelligence beings? Were they real as well?

"A wraith?" Gort screamed. "Is it really a wraith? Unbelievable! Marcus, you can definitely kill the wraith, right!"

Marcus faced off against the wraith in tense anticipation.

It wasn't so much a standoff, for since the wraith had attacked Marcus unsuccessfully and revealed itself, it simply hovered in mid-air, motionless and seemingly dumbstruck.

If not for the slight undulation of its body and the faint glow emanating from it, it would have resembled a still image.

"I can't guarantee I can kill it. I've never seen a wraith before; it has no physical form, just a mass of light," Marcus said cautiously, gripping his knight's sword with both hands.

Liszt, protected within the crowd, continued to use the Eye of Magic.

He realized that the magic within the bone seemed unrelated to the wraith. There wasn't much magic visible within the wraith's body. Whether through the Eye of Magic or the naked eye, the wraith appeared as a dimly lit, humanoid torso.

He quickly recalled all the information he knew about wraiths.

Wraiths didn't seem to be ferocious ghosts. In recorded knightly novels, the protagonists dispatched them with a single strike, without any detailed depiction of combat. Even in bedtime stories, wraiths were portrayed as curiosities rather than malevolent entities.

As Marcus was about to attack the wraith, unable to contain his growing impatience,

a sudden spark of inspiration struck Liszt.

Realizing that the wraith could parasitize within the keel, it reminded him of the genie in Aladdin's lamp. He gently caressed his chest beneath his cloak and retrieved an unknown metal-made drift bottle from his spatial ring. Then, he tossed it to Marcus.

"Teacher Marcus, try to see if you can trap the wraith inside."

This was a sudden whim, a bit fanciful.

But astonishingly, as the bottle landed in Marcus' hand, the wraith suddenly lunged towards him. By the time Marcus attempted to intercept it with his sword, the wraith had already swiftly vanished into the metal bottle.

"Huh..."

Liszt was momentarily stunned.

He never expected that he would actually capture the wraith. It was simply incredible.

But when Marcus approached him, carefully holding the bottle, Liszt quickly reined in his surprise. He presented a serene expression, as calm as a breeze, and handed the bottle cap to Marcus.

Marcus promptly screwed the cap back on.

A few threads of magic flashed, and the metal bottle and its lid became one, with no visible seams.

"My lord, your magic bottle," Marcus said respectfully as he handed over the bottle. He was increasingly unable to fathom the lord he followed, as if everything was within his grasp.

The ghost of the sunken ship appeared without any trouble.

Liszt took back the bottle, stowing it under his cloak and avoiding the gazes of others as he directly sent the bottle into the gemstone space. He wasn't keen on having close contact with the ghost, so sending it to the stillness of the gemstone space would allow him time to research its information before further study.

"But speaking of which, this ghost is at least a 36D."

...

The metal bottle could only be opened by the bloodline of the Sun's descendant.

The sole source of blood for now was the old leatherworker from the tannery. Old Leatherworker Phil and manservant Jesse had yet to form a contractual father-son relationship, but they remained close, akin to father and son in all but name.

Given that the old leatherworker was already advanced in years, Liszt only collected a small amount of his blood, not asking for more. At the same time, he brought the old leatherworker much food as compensation.

"Jesse, take good care of the old leatherworker. I've taken some of his blood, but it's just for research; I don't want to harm him. The work in the castle can be shared more among the other manservants, and I'll have Mr. Carter arrange that. Your most important task right now is to look after the old leatherworker."

"Yes, sir," Jesse nodded.

The old leatherworker added, "It's an honor for Old Phil to contribute to our lord."

Liszt smiled slightly. "It's good that you think so."

He would come often to collect blood in the future, until he had enough stored to open the metal bottle without limit.