Chapter 899
Chapter 899
Anton would have found it strange to suddenly encounter people aboard the ship who looked like they had come from a galaxy far, far away, but he had witnessed this same phenomenon several times before.
Even the young forest elves were not immune. Some of them had started dressing as their favorite movie characters.
What truly startled Anton, however, was seeing an actual R2-D2 robot following a wizard.
"Oh, that wizard is Ronulf. He summoned an Earth Elemental and made it look like Luke Skywalker's robot," Paul said.
The costume craze did not fade even after several weeks. Anton thought it was probably because the movies he had given the ship were shown every week, and most of the passengers watched them several times. More likely, it was simply a way to relieve their boredom, as the long voyage across the ocean inevitably took its toll on people's minds.
During one of his monthly meetings with his father and sister, Anton told them how some of the passengers had continued wearing costumes from various movies even though the Cosplay Event had ended some time ago.
"It's the same here in Ormunda! After Romina held the Cosplay Convention, a lot of young people—even some older people—started wearing clothes similar to those worn by characters from the movies. I even adapted some of the outfits I saw on Project Runway," Anna said with excited disbelief.
Anton could understand his sister's excitement. Because of the movies, many people's perspectives had begun to broaden.
"When my roommates and I started watching America's Next Top Model, we were shocked and embarrassed by some of the things the contestants were asked to do just to become famous. The funny thing is that our family's magazine has already started adapting some of the ideas we saw on the show," Anna continued.
Anders merely shook his head at the lengths young people would go to in order to follow the latest trends. At the moment, that trend was imitating characters from movies.
"I'm fascinated by the lives of the people where these movies and shows came from! I still can't believe they had no magic and that their lives revolved around what we consider mundane things, such as money, beauty, fashion, cars, and other material possessions," Anna said thoughtfully.
Anton shrugged. As a former Earthling, he knew all too well how empty some people's lives could become. In fact, his own life on Earth had been rather pathetic. He had worked as hard as he could simply to earn enough money to survive until he eventually died during a pandemic.
"By the way, the new ladder season starts in three weeks," Anton reminded his father and sister.
Both of them immediately brightened at the news.
Naturally, Anton had expected that reaction. The ladder season was one of the best opportunities for all three of them to increase their strength. Anders needed that power because his ambitions had continued to grow.
Anna also wanted to become as powerful as possible since she intended to become an influential figure in Ormunda.
Anton, on the other hand, had set his sights on the multiverse. His ambition was to gain the ability to travel freely across different dimensions. He thought it would be wonderful if, someday, he could visit Earth whenever he wished.
During the following weeks, Anton's daily routine remained unchanged. He spent about an hour completing the daily quests on his Diablo Immortal Wizard, then searched for the best gear—including the best Charms—that he could eventually transfer from the game into the real world. He also spent a few hours socializing with his friends aboard the ship, but the majority of his time was devoted to recreating spells using the abilities from Diablo II.
After successfully recreating the Light spell using the mana structure of the Sorceress's Charged Bolt spell, he turned his attention to the Invisibility spell. That spell proved far more difficult because its mana structure was extraordinarily complex.
Anton believed that if he had access only to the Sorceress's spells, he would never have succeeded in recreating Invisibility. However, because he could use the skills and spells of all eight Diablo II character classes, he eventually succeeded after six weeks of research. By combining the mana structures of the Assassin's Fade and Cloak of Shadows skills with the Sorceress's Lightning and Energy Shield spells, he successfully recreated the Invisibility spell.
He had expected the completed spell to appear under the Assassin's skill tree, but instead, it remained in the General Skills tab of his Sorceress. He assumed that was because the spell still relied partly on the Sorceress's Lightning and Energy Shield spells.
After successfully recreating Invisibility, Anton realized that beginning with such an advanced spell had probably been a mistake. He should have started with simpler spells before attempting one of such complexity.
He checked the collection of spellbooks in his inventory and found that most of them contained offensive spells. A few were defensive, but considering the spells available through his eight Diablo II characters, offensive magic was already more than abundant.
That was precisely why he had been concentrating on utility spells. Since there were relatively few utility spells available for him to recreate, choosing Invisibility had not really been the wrong decision. At the very least, the experience he gained from recreating such a complicated spell was invaluable. More than likely, his future spellcrafting efforts would become much easier because of it.
After reviewing the remaining spells he could recreate, he settled on the Fly spell. Before studying it, however, he wanted to experience it firsthand, as he had always relied on the Sorceress's Telekinesis to fly rather than the actual Fly spell.
Fortunately, he could cast the spell inside the Diablo II world.
After spending some time flying with the Fly spell, he concluded that mastering it would greatly improve his mobility. Combining Fly with Telekinesis would allow him to maneuver more precisely while also increasing his flight speed.
He began studying the Fly spell's mana structure and quickly discovered that it was every bit as complex as Invisibility.
Anton eventually had to suspend his spellcrafting research because the new ladder season had arrived. He needed to focus on leveling his characters, and he intended to raise as many of them as possible by exploiting the loophole that Anna had discovered.
During the previous ladder season, he had managed to bring thirteen characters to the maximum level.
The day before the Diablo II ladder season began, Anton visited Second Officer Liemdal. He informed him that, for the next two months, he would remain secluded in his room while conducting magical and item-enchantment research. He requested that no one disturb him—not even to bring food or drinks—as he had already prepared all the supplies he would need.
Liemdal nodded in understanding and promised to interrupt him only if something truly important required his attention. After all, Anton had already provided enough movies to entertain everyone for the remainder of the voyage, provided they continued showing only one film each week.
After speaking with Liemdal, Anton met with his friends and told them the same thing. He added that he would occasionally visit them during those two months whenever he needed a break from his studies.
As expected, Eric immediately asked what Anton intended to study.
Anton simply smiled and replied that it was a secret.
Eric looked deeply disappointed by Anton's planned absence, though Anton suspected it was mainly because neither Eric nor Paul would be able to mooch off him during those two months.