The Heir Who Wouldn’t Drown
Copyright© 2026 by CaffeinatedTales
Chapter 3: An Anchor in the World
Water rushed...
As the final character appeared, silver-white ripples spread across the [Logbook]’s cover and surged into Julian’s body.
Warm power smoothed the wounds in his consciousness like a mother’s hands, then nourished his soul as swiftly and gently as spring rain.
Something intangible, once confined to the currents of his mind, burst through the boundary between the mental world and the material world.
Thunder sounded. Julian seemed to hear someone singing an ancient epic of the Northern Bayfolk beside his ear, in a voice as coarse as sea salt.
“The sails met a gale, Flapping, wheeling without end; ‘Death!’ the helmsman roared. Spare not a single foe! With our iron keel We struck the enemy ship; The hull pitched and rolled, And sank into the black heart of the sea...”
Deep within his mind, a seed took root, sprouted, and began to grow...
It bore his consciousness swiftly upward from his brain, growing until it blossomed and bore fruit.
At that moment, Julian’s breathing, heartbeat, touch, perception ... all reached the finest state a mortal could attain.
He was like a seasoned sailor gripping the ropes of a wind-filled sail, the sea breeze blowing through his hair. He felt the joy of a ship cutting through the waves. Sail, ship, wind, and sea resonated in harmony within the sailor’s veins.
An age seemed to pass. Or perhaps only an instant.
The epic rose to a sudden crescendo.
“Thus, covered in wounds, I broke the prison gates; My soul climbed into heaven, Ascending my homeland’s stars! The warriors’ souls raised their cups, And drained the overflowing wine. May you fare well! Northland! May you fare well!”
Boom!
Above him, stone gates crashed open.
A “fish,” trapped in the sunless depths, finally leaped clear of the sea.
Like the ancestors of land-dwelling creatures hundreds of millions of years ago, it took its first step onto land and beheld the magnificent world beyond in all its variety.
Julian, too, found a point of support within his mind, lifting his entire life and metaphysical standing beyond the mundane.
His [spirituality] had awakened!
He could distinctly sense an invisible third eye, one that let him perceive wonders hidden from ordinary vision through [spirit sight]. He also had an invisible, intangible third hand, astonishingly nimble. With a thought, he easily undid the ropes binding him.
Among the common people of this world, at least 90% were illiterate. But as a descendant of a great royal house, Julian had received a thorough basic education and access to supernatural knowledge from childhood.
He knew exactly what was happening to him. In the blink of an eye, he adjusted to the unfamiliar experience.
“[Spiritual awakening] is like gaining a wondrous, intangible organ inside your body. You can’t see or touch it, but it’s the starting point of all supernatural power, and a prerequisite for initiation into every occult profession!”
He also knew that his awakening was not yet complete.
“In this world, humans are merely mundane beings who rose from dust. We’ve never ruled the supernatural world. Every [spiritual sublimation] is a ‘transgression’ in metaphysical standing, carrying unpredictable risks. At this stage, I have to connect with the source of humanity’s supernatural power and complete the final anchoring. Only then can I truly command power that never belonged to humanity in the first place!”
He immediately opened his spirit sight to its fullest extent.
An immense silver network appeared, encompassing the entire world, boundless and present everywhere.
This was the [Silver Law], protector of the human nations and source of all orthodox supernatural power.
And from the Law had arisen a series of supernatural advancement systems: the [Ladder of Glory]!
But just as Julian prepared to complete his anchoring according to the supernatural knowledge he had studied, the awakening that had proceeded so smoothly encountered a problem.
In theory, the [Silver Law] had seven layers. Yet even its first layer, the only one he could currently perceive, seemed impossibly distant. He could not reach it.
“Is the Law rejecting me?”
Julian, Evan Cole, was fundamentally an outsider. That sense of not belonging soon revealed the problem.
Understanding came in a flash. Silently, he declared:
“I am ... Julian Ravenshaw!”
He affirmed who he was, accepted his fate and responsibilities, and cast his first [anchor] in this world.
The barrier between him and the [Silver Law] vanished at once.
Pure white spiritual radiance became an anchor like a ribbon of light. It easily caught the Law’s first layer, securing his existence completely.
He became a node in that vast network.
The “knowledge” and “experience” flowing through the law network fed back into him, granting him genuine supernatural power.
Sublimation complete!
The long transformation in his mental world had taken only an instant in reality.
Utterly changed, Julian let out a deep breath and watched it rise toward the surface in bubbles.
Cold, brilliant blue spiritual radiance shone from his sea-blue eyes as he fixed them once more on the red-eyed sharks before him.
Through [spirit sight], the man-eating sharks, which had seemed unusual only for their glowing eyes, now looked entirely different.
Red, wronged souls clung all over their bodies, wailing in agony. Their limbs plunged deep into the sharks like tentacles, leaving them attached like malformed fleshy growths.
Some sharks carried only a few. Others bore dozens.
These were clearly the “sacrificial victims” the sharks had devoured, and part of some supernatural ability used to control them.
“The innate abilities gained during spiritual awakening usually arise from a person’s strongest desires and needs. They aren’t necessarily combat abilities, but they can work wonders when death seems certain. Like mine... [Cognitive Revision]!”
Julian stopped trying to evade them. Following the knowledge he had received from the Law, he unleashed his new ability.
His spirituality resonated with his flesh. Invisible ripples echoed through his veins, spilled from his ocean-blue eyes, and burst outward.
“Get lost!”
A hum rang out.
The sharks were already close enough to bite him with a snap of their jaws. In an instant, they reacted as though they had encountered an orca, the ocean’s street bully, something they could not afford to cross.
Every one of them wheeled around and fled in a frenzy.
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