Chapter 8: The Glowing Sea Algae
Riding on his Blazing Fire Horse, Croyer and Joshua swiftly arrived at the seaside.
Joshua had seen the situation and had gone to fetch Croyer, but when the latter laid eyes on the scene, his expression became somewhat complicated.
Though the moon and stars provided ample illumination in the night, it paled in comparison to the surreal radiance of the sea before them.
The seawater was filled with an eerie blue glow. These shimmering lights twisted and writhed in the water like living creatures, constantly attaching themselves to nearby reefs and ships.
Every time they completely enveloped a reef, the rock would shrink at a visible rate, as if being devoured.
To be fair, if one ignored their destructive tendencies, they were actually quite beautiful.
In the pitch-black depths of the ocean, these clear blue glows roamed about with an almost sentient grace. It was easy to see how someone might mistake them for divine sea spirits.
On the shore stood Robert, three knights, and Bartos.
Behind them were local soldiers clad in tattered leather armor, gripping their rusting weapons tightly.
The atmosphere was tense.
“Do not panic, I will examine this.”
Croyer stepped forward, staff in hand.
“My Lord!”
The gathered men visibly relaxed upon seeing him, hurriedly making way for him to observe more closely.
Bartos, still tense, added nervously, “My Lord, be careful! These things devour humans as well!”
The poor former lord was already trembling, his legs quaking. If Robert weren’t standing right behind him, he might have already bolted in terror.
Croyer gave a casual nod and carefully observed the phenomenon.
He noticed that as the blue glows adhered to the reefs, small bursts of magic explosions occurred. The reefs shattered under these micro-detonations and were then absorbed by the glowing masses.
“This looks familiar…”
He cast Eagle Eye Spell on himself, and immediately, the blue glows expanded in his vision, revealing themselves as countless tiny, translucent blue particles.
They had gathered together to form this spectacle.
“…Aren’t these just algae?”
The more he looked, the more they reminded him of bioluminescent marine organisms, similar to the so-called Blue Tears of the Ocean he had read about in another world.
But unlike ordinary bioluminescent algae, these were actively consuming the shoreline. They were even slowly eroding the sandy beach. Though they constantly self-destructed, their numbers did not diminish; instead, they continued multiplying.
From his magical perception, they emitted weak magical fluctuations—merely at the level of a Rank 1 magical creature.
It didn’t seem like a dire threat.
After analyzing the situation, he turned to Bartos and asked, “Did you personally witness them consuming a human?”
Bartos nodded frantically. “Yes, my Lord! I saw them swallow a farmhand completely—there wasn’t even a trace of bone left!”
“I see.”
If they were capable of consuming people, then they could not be left unchecked.
No matter how mesmerizing they were, anything that threatened the safety of his domain had to be driven away—though exterminating them entirely was beyond his current abilities.
Completely eradicating such a unique species of magical algae from the ocean was not something a mere Rank 1 Mage could accomplish.
Croyer slowly extended his hand and began chanting a spell.
Strands of red-hued magic gathered in his palm, forming a massive fireball—about the size of a human head. The intense heat made those nearby feel a wave of discomfort.
Everyone except Robert and the four knights instinctively lowered their heads in reverence and fear—after all, it was only natural to fear the power of a mighty mage.
Had another mage been present, they would have noticed something odd—this Rank 1 Fireball Spell was nearly at the potency of a Rank 2 Spell.
This was due to the red magic energy enhancing fire-based magic, allowing him to conjure such an enormous fireball.
“Go!”
Croyer hurled the fireball into the sea, expecting it to explode upon contact, creating a burst of steam and scaring away the strange algae.
But the moment the fireball touched the water, it halted in place!
The eerie blue algae surged toward it, swiftly coating the fiery sphere in a translucent film, turning it into a blue fireball.
The densely packed glowing algae wrapped around the originally red-hot fireball, making it flicker with an enchanting blend of blue and red hues beneath the water.
“?!!”
Croyer was visibly shaken.
Fire magic was the most volatile of all magic elements—there was no reason it should be contained like this by a water-based magical entity!
It wasn’t even exploding?!
But what truly caught him off guard was the sudden notification from the Star Spirit Engraving Technique—
[A suitable magical plant for the Star Spirit Engraving Technique has been detected: The Glowing Sea Algae. Would you like to activate the engraving process to analyze its Star Spirit Form?]
Upon seeing this prompt, Croyer boldly stepped forward into the water, approaching the strangely calm, red-and-blue glowing sphere.
Immediately, footsteps followed behind him—his four knights had instinctively moved to protect him, ready to pull him back at the first sign of danger.
Under the watchful eyes of the gathered men, Croyer slowly pressed his fingers against the algae-coated fireball and activated the Star Spirit Engraving Technique.
He had assumed the process wouldn’t require much magic, but to his shock, his entire afternoon’s worth of meditation energy was completely drained, only barely allowing the engraving to complete.
The Star Spirit Form of the algae was a collective entity.
Threads of deep blue light intertwined and wrapped around countless identical glowing orbs, each one flickering within the clustered mass of Phosphorescent Algae.
Then, a cacophony of tiny voices echoed within the Star Spirit Form, reverberating in Croyer’s mind.
“The Sun! The Sun! The Sun!”
“Ah… We are so bored! We want to explode!”
“Daylight! Why can’t we see the sun during the day?!”
The sheer number of voices, all speaking at once, made it feel as if Croyer’s mind was about to shatter under the psychic pressure.
To avoid contamination from their overwhelming collective consciousness, he unhesitatingly engraved the first chapter of "The Song of Red"—a meditation technique—into their Star Spirit Form.
He had worried that he might not have enough energy to complete the engraving, but to his surprise, as he inscribed the technique, a strange surge of mental energy began flowing back into him.
At the same time, the algae’s voices became filled with joy—
“The Sun!”
“Ooooh, we can explode now!”
“We will see the sun!”
With great excitement, the Phosphorescent Algae detached from the fireball and swarmed toward Croyer.
The fireball sank into the water, emitting a faint sizzling sound before quickly extinguishing.
The sight made everyone panic.
“My Lord!”
“Be careful!”
Led by Joshua, the four knights nearly drew their swords in alarm, but Croyer quickly stopped them.
“Do not worry—they mean me no harm.”
With his Star Spirit Vision, he could clearly perceive pure joy and elation radiating from the algae—there was no trace of hostility.
So, he let them crawl onto him.
The cool sensation of the glowing blue algae spreading across his skin was oddly soothing, and the constant influx of magical and spiritual energy made the engraving process much easier.
After half an hour, the complex and intricate engraving of "The Song of Red" was finally complete.