DOTM: Chapter 227/228

Chapter 227: Ethan Who Is Not Human

Rising from the pool, which had turned into ordinary water, Ethan dried himself off with a towel, then began putting on the clothes he had prepared earlier.

He didn't bother avoiding Diana's gaze. After all, she had been watching for hours. What was the point in hiding now?

Glancing at the tattered piece of cloth lying nearby, Ethan rolled his eyes, picked it up, and tossed it into the trash.

After dressing, he glanced at the bright sky outside the window. He wasn't planning to rest. In fact, after soaking in the enhancement solution for a few hours, he felt better than ever. It was far more effective than sleeping.

"How do you feel?"

As Ethan buttoned his shirt, he heard Diana's question. Only then did he take a moment to assess his own condition.

With his spiritual power becoming increasingly refined, it only took him a brief moment to thoroughly examine his body inside and out.

What he discovered surprised him. Not only did he no longer feel that physical training had reached a plateau, but his body had even improved slightly.

Touching his own muscles, his arms—already strong from years of constant training—felt more solid than ever.

"An illusion?"

There could be some margin of error in judging physical condition. After all, it wouldn't be strange to feel stronger after absorbing energy overnight.

However, the changes in his spiritual power were much clearer. His spiritual energy had become more powerful, not just in density and weight, but also in terms of the magic it produced—the spiritual water symbolizing his mana had grown significantly stronger.

Initially, Ethan's mana had been like a small spring. Though it continuously regenerated, the total amount remained limited. For a long time, he could only cast minor spells or use magic as an auxiliary tool.

But now, after just one night, his magic had begun to accumulate into a clear spring. At this rate, it wouldn't take long to become a small pool. Following normal progression, these "springs" would begin to flow, forming a stream that would eventually merge with the spiritual land in the distance, which would then continuously produce new "spring water."

This would be a perfect cycle, marking the completion of the primary stage of magic cultivation. At that point, he could finally cast spells freely.

"I wonder if there's been any change in the nature of my spiritual power?"

Fortunately, the enhancement hadn't forced any special attributes onto his spirit. Ethan's magic remained "pure," though thanks to his understanding of water and fire elements, his mana could now more easily channel those types of magic.

In addition, his mana exhibited some spatial traits. If this trend continued, water, fire, and space would likely become the first three energy attributes he fully mastered.

Opening his eyes and looking at Diana, Ethan could now clearly sense that the gap between himself and "ordinary humans" was growing. Even without considering his enhanced physique, the magical energy in his body alone was far beyond what a normal person could possess.

"It worked better than expected."

Diana nodded, then began to study Ethan seriously.

"What?"

"I don't know if it's just my imagination, but you seem… different somehow."

"Maybe it's just an illusion."

Ethan touched his chin, then looked at his reflection in the glass. He still looked familiar, but—huh? He touched his cheek again and did notice something different.

"My skin seems smoother."

Diana never held back when it came to Ethan. Upon hearing this, she reached out and touched his face several times without hesitation.

"It really has improved a lot."

She suddenly remembered something. When her divine power had gradually awakened, her body had undergone optimization, including ideal body proportions and even facial features that evolved in the best possible direction.

The main ingredient in Ethan's potion was divine blood. Did it have the same effect?

Ethan wasn't sure, but he believed the likelihood was high.

"Isn't that a good thing?"

"I didn't say it wasn't."

He just wondered if it would make him taller. His height had never been short, but compared to the people around him now, it seemed a bit lacking.

Even Diana, in her high-heeled battle armor, was slightly taller than him. He had silently complained more than once about how unnecessarily high the heels of that armor were.

He had once hoped that he might still grow a bit, but time had passed, and now that he was beyond the age of rapid growth, his height hadn't changed much. Relying on natural growth to get taller was now clearly a pipe dream.

Leaving the room with Diana, they stepped onto the deck. Ethan thought he was up early and that no one else would be awake yet. To his surprise, Logan was already stretching on deck.

"You're up early?"

Logan was also surprised to see Ethan this early. Lately, Ethan had only appeared during meals or his scheduled exercise time. The rest of his time was spent in the workshop.

If he was out now, that meant the experiment had succeeded?

Staring at him closely, Logan noticed that Ethan seemed slightly different, though he couldn't quite pinpoint what had changed.

"You seem different somehow."

Logan's animal instincts gave him an intuition he couldn't always explain, but the feeling was there, persistent. He could sense that Ethan had changed.

"I'm not entirely sure myself. It'll take time for the more obvious changes to appear."

Ethan's response told Logan that the experiment had indeed succeeded, though perhaps not in the way he had expected. Wasn't it supposed to be a one-time enhancement?

"This method makes it easier for me to absorb power gradually, and it prevents any accidents."

It also reduced the risk of side effects. After a brief explanation, Logan understood Ethan's current situation.

All in all, the future looked promising.

Even Loki offered his congratulations when he learned of Ethan's success. As it turned out, Loki could be quite amicable when he wasn't scheming—after all, he was a prince of Asgard.

Only Selene still didn't fully understand the situation. Her only impression was that something about the mage Ethan had changed. She used to think Ethan, without magic, was just an ordinary person. But now, even when he wasn't casting spells, she had no desire to suck his blood at all.

Ethan, completely unaware he had been rejected by a vampire, continued his enhancement process over the next few days. However, just a few days later, the Goddess of Dawn returned to the central island.

He now had to divert some attention to other matters.

For example, sorting out the "loot distribution" with the Eternal, checking and processing the supplies and food aboard the Goddess of Dawn, and sending the ship to the docks for routine maintenance.

At the same time, he and Cleo needed to visit Brent, who had posted the recruitment notice, to find out what exactly Brent had in mind.

But before he could take care of any of that, he had one final task: sending Diana back to her world.

"Are you ready to go back?"

"After all, I still have responsibilities to fulfill."

Diana's greatest responsibility had been eliminating Ares, and she had done that. But she believed it was also her duty, as an Amazon of Themyscira, to continue protecting humanity, so she would definitely return.

Ethan understood Diana. He knew she couldn't stay in this world for long, so he didn't try to convince her otherwise. He had even deliberately conserved space-time energy for this exact moment.

"Then I'll take you back."

"Can't you just activate the Circle and let me go back by myself?" Diana wasn't proficient in magic, but she understood how it worked. In theory, the Circle should be usable that way.

"I can't guarantee there won't be deviations using that method, so I need to go with you personally."

"And how long will you stay?"

Ethan shook his head.

"I won't be staying. I have to return immediately after sending you back."

He had only saved enough energy for a single round trip. Since this entire voyage had been conducted alongside Cleo's ship, he hadn't had the chance to go off on his own to collect more space-time energy. The only reason he could manage this trip now was that his understanding of space-time energy had been steadily improving.

A magic circle activated in front of everyone. As the fleeting light faded and blinked out, Ethan stood alone on the deck.

"You sent her back?"

Ethan nodded. It had been close. He'd only just managed to exchange a few parting words with Diana, promising to meet again when time allowed, before the Circle forcibly pulled him back.

Looking around at the people nearby, he realized that for the foreseeable future, Diana would no longer be his support. He couldn't expect Loki to help unconditionally if danger arose.

"Fortunately, I've broken through the bottleneck. The next step is to train hard. After all, only by growing stronger can I truly stand strong."

(To be continued.)

Chapter 228: Simple Rest

The liquidation of supplies, the sorting of spoils, and the division of the fruits of victory all proceeded smoothly. After parting with Cleo, Ethan cleared out the cabin of the Goddess of Dawn and scheduled a full round of maintenance and servicing at the shipyard.

This was something he always did after returning from a voyage. Although a thorough cleaning and maintenance cost a lot of money, it was the only way to ensure the ship remained strong and reliable, avoiding catastrophic failures at critical moments.

"Aren't you going to insure the ship?"

"I already did."

In fact, the shipyard had a great reputation. They didn't create problems just to force customers to return for repairs, nor did they ever cause trouble or tamper with ships during maintenance.

Ethan had never heard of valuables going missing or information about one's ship leaking during repairs.

Still, his ship carried more secrets than most. So, each time, he would take away the more important items and leave behind a special detection magic trap. It wouldn't hurt anyone, but it would alert him if someone tampered with something they shouldn't and help him track them down.

Knowing Ethan had taken these precautions, Logan no longer concerned himself with the issue. He began curiously observing the island.

He had been part of Ethan's crew and aboard Ethan's ship for quite some time, but this was the first time he had actually seen a city in this world.

"Looks a bit primitive, doesn't it?"

The buildings and the clothing worn by the island's residents looked older than what he remembered from his own era. However, the island's infrastructure was quite modern, with clean, well-maintained stone roads comparable to those in small modern towns.

"It looks like civilization is stuck in the pre-industrial age, but with magic stone technology, it still has some modern conveniences."

The situation was quite interesting. Not only did Logan become curious, even Selene—who had been quiet the whole time—seemed intrigued, frequently turning her head to look around.

To avoid attracting too much attention, she wasn't wearing her usual tight leather outfit. Instead, she had changed into more appropriate local attire. Her appearance reminded Ethan of a look from another film. If her hair were longer, curled slightly, and dyed brown, she would look quite different. Logan, who had also changed his style, appeared even more out of place by comparison.

"So what do we do now?"

"Not much. The ship will take some time to finish maintenance, so we'll be staying on the island for a while. First, we need to find a place to stay."

With more people in the group now, it wasn't as simple as finding a hotel and booking a few rooms. Considering their secrecy needs, Ethan decided to spend more money and rent a house with a private courtyard.

Such accommodations were common on the island. Most buildings were meant for adventurers, and the locals didn't need that many houses or facilities.

Given the varying needs of adventurer teams, it wasn't hard to find a hotel with a full courtyard for rent. They even offered recommendations based on team size.

After renting a modest-sized courtyard, Ethan waited for everyone to settle in before announcing a temporary break.

The island was fairly large. Anyone could go out and explore as they liked. If anything happened, they were strong enough to handle it themselves.

As for Loki, facing such a group of "ordinary people" didn't interest him at all. Ethan had already shown him a promising path forward. Now, whenever Loki had free time, he found a quiet corner and meditated, steadily strengthening his control over frost power.

No one knew his exact progress, but it was obvious. When he first obtained the scepter embedded with the Frost Energy Core, a cold wind blew wherever he went. Now, Loki could fully contain the frost energy within the scepter, with no signs of leakage.

As a mage, Ethan could sense that the core now held much more frost energy than when he had made it for Loki. When creating it, Ethan had prioritized safety, ensuring no energy could leak and harm those nearby.

The earlier leak had occurred because Loki had drawn additional power from the Casket of Ancient Winters and injected it into the core, exceeding his control limit at the time.

However, unlike his brother Thor, Loki wasn't reckless. Once he realized he wasn't ready to handle that much power, he stopped and resumed his training at the current energy level.

His calm demeanor lately showed that he had no time to think about anything else.

With that in mind, Ethan considered drawing more frost energy into the core of the scepter. That way, Loki would remain focused on training and less likely to stir up trouble.

"So, we're free to do what we want?"

"Also, feel free to buy anything you need."

Logan bit down on his cigar, then asked the question that had been on everyone's mind.

"Buy things? Like what? And how?"

Ethan covered his face. He had forgotten to explain that part.

In this world—at least in this sea region and the Sea of Calm where they had been previously—there was no unified currency. Most transactions were barter-based, with people trading the resources they had for what they wanted.

Even food and lodging were paid for with resources. But since Ethan was a registered adventurer with guild backing, he didn't need to carry large quantities of materials with him.

Logan and the others didn't have adventurer status. If they wanted to buy anything, they would have to directly trade items the seller found valuable. Otherwise, they wouldn't be able to purchase anything.

"What a sad, backward world."

Loki couldn't hold back his sarcasm. Ethan agreed with him inwardly but didn't say anything. Instead, he suggested that Logan and he head to the guild together.

After a brief hesitation, Selene also expressed her desire to register an identity. Her attitude made it clear that she wanted to stay.

Ethan didn't refuse. Selene's ability was quite useful to him. In situations where information was lacking, her power to read memories could provide critical intel. It was exactly what Ethan needed.

Loki, however, refused outright. As the prince of Asgard, he disdained the idea of joining some strange guild and becoming a so-called adventurer. As for obtaining what he wanted? His solution was simple.

"I'll let you know if I need anything."

Then he turned back into his room with the scepter and shut the door to continue his training.

Ethan wasn't surprised. If Loki had enthusiastically agreed to join the guild, Ethan would have been suspicious and double-checked with multiple sources to see if Loki was planning something.

So Ethan took Logan, Selene, and Laura to the guild's office. There was no need to visit the central hall for membership registration. After processing their adventurer identities, Ethan also inquired about Brent's location and learned that Brent was currently staying at a hotel in the middle of the island.

Brent had deliberately left his location available because he had sent out recruitment notices to many adventurers. His goal was to meet with them and discuss plans, so leaving his address made it easier for them to find him.

"I'm going to meet an acquaintance. Do you want to come with me or wander around?"

Registering with the guild was quick and simple. The process took less than ten minutes. Ethan now planned to visit Brent and ask about the situation. He suspected Cleo might arrive after wrapping up her own matters, and they could run into each other again soon.

"We're not very familiar with this place, so we'll come with you."

Since Logan said so, Ethan didn't insist they split up. He took Logan, Laura, and Selene and headed toward the center of the island.

The journey went smoothly. Along the way, they checked out the local shops to see what was available. Even if they didn't buy anything right away, Ethan noted what they needed so they could return later after visiting Brent.

When they arrived at Brent's hotel, Ethan saw it was very lively, as expected. Brent was a well-known figure, and since he had left his contact information, many adventurers had shown up. There were scattered groups gathered outside the entrance—likely crew members or followers of other captains. The reason they didn't go in was not that Brent excluded them, but that there were too many people. To keep the discussions manageable, only the "captains" were allowed inside.

To avoid being disturbed by outsiders, Brent had even posted someone at the door. When Ethan attempted to enter, he was stopped.

The man didn't speak rudely or with disdain. He recognized Ethan.

"Captain Ethan, I'm sorry, but your companions can't come in right now. There are already too many people inside." He remained polite. "Our captain has reserved the hotel across the street. Your companions can wait there."

(To be continued.)