Chapter 66 - Boarding the Ship
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
historical
Bohr arrived at the dock on the Mesmer River at 2 a.m., carrying two large suitcases. He had sold everything of value in his house. His suitcase held all of his research results and equipment. In a sense, Bohr had nothing left to lose.
“Hey, Piquat, where’s the ship you were talking about? I don’t see anything.”
A cold wind tore through the docks. It seemed strong enough to blow people away. Even with a thick jacket, Bohr felt frozen to his very bones, as the wind crept in through his collar and the gaps in his clothing.
Piquat quipped from Bohr’s shoulder, “Relax, the ship will arrive right on time. It definitely will not be late. It’s your fault for being so anxious and setting off so early.”
Right then, Piquat seemed to have detected something. It lifted its head, “The ship has arrived.”
Bohr whipped his head toward the river, glancing around anxiously. “It’s here? Where is it? Why don’t I see it?”
Piquat lowered its head and pecked at Bohr’s collar. “Where are you looking? Look down.”
Bohr shifted his gaze downward to discover a huge shadow within the surface of the river. Amid the reflection of the moon and stars, a black mass was slowly getting closer, like a giant sea monster rising out of the depths.
“My God, what is that?”
Bohr gaped, dumbfounded. His suitcases fell to the ground. Gradually, a huge seaboat floated to the surface and entered his field of vision. Its white, streamlined silhouette invoked a sense of indescribable beauty.
“Oh Goddess Maria above, this is a ship? I’ve never seen a ship that could appear from underwater. Also, why doesn’t it sail? I don’t even see any oars!” Bohr felt as if a new fantastical world was opening up before him.
Piquat immediately replied with a sense of pride. “This is a wizard’s boat. Of course an ordinary person has never seen it. Stop dawdling, the wizard servants are here. Hurry onto the boat.”
“Wizard servants?”
Bohr looked over to see two black-cloaked figures approaching on a small boat to pick them up. Bohr carefully placed his suitcases on the small boat, then turned to face the two cloaked figures. “Thank you, sorry for the trouble.”
It was quite dark, and the hoods of the two figures were quite deep. Bohr didn’t look too closely at the appearance of the two. As the small boat made its way toward the larger boat in the middle of the river, Bohr carefully inspected the boat he had never seen in his life. It was white on the outside, made of a material that he could not yet discern, though it seemed to be heavy and sturdy. Bohr suddenly noticed that there were two large eyes on the bow of the ship, staring at him.
“What?” Bohr was terrified. He had thought they were mere decorations and did not expect them to move, “Did you all just see that? The eyes of the ship just moved. The eyes moved!”
The servant, who was rowing at the front of the boat, turned back and replied with an eerie voice, “That ship was created through life alchemy, so of course its eyes can move.”
Bohr felt a chill in his heart. Under the hood of the cloak was a face that seemed to be masked with armor. It’s body seemed to be covered in a black shell. It was evident that the servant was not human. Bohr suddenly felt as though he had got onto the wrong boat. Was it too late to turn back?
Stupefied, he boarded the ship. He then entered the cabin under the command of the servant. The two servants pulled up the smaller boat and entered the cabin too. The SS Eternity sunk back into the depths. This was the last apprentice of the region, so the SS Eternity was returning to the ocean and heading to the land of the orcs.
Bohr followed the stairs down the cabin, behind the servants. The room inside was huge. The wizard servant gave him a basic introduction of the cabin while it led him downstairs.
“The first level includes the dining room, the conference room, the living room and the entertainment lounge. There are also some other apprentices within the other parts of the cabin. You can go interact with them later. The bar is right over here...”
The servant started doing its own work according to the introduction sequence it was programmed with. In Bohr’s opinion, the wizard servant in front of him had an intelligence almost equal to humans. Although in actuality, it was only operating according to a program. If he had asked a question outside the database of the program, the servant would have ignored him.
“Wow, this ship is amazing!” Bohr felt that this trip was rather amazing.
“The library is this way. Within it are books on general knowledge, history of the continent, the biographies of famous figures, et cetera.”
Bohr’s eyes lit up as he entered the library. He rushed straight inside. There were many shelves, all of which were completely piled with books!
“I can read all of these books to my heart’s desire?” Bohr was ecstatic. On Alen, books were extremely precious. The average household definitely couldn’t afford any books. Some books could even be treated like precious heirlooms. A family that possessed a large collection of books would definitely be a noble family!
The servant nodded. “You can read and borrow these books as you like. But you are not allowed to take them with you when you get off the ship. Other than that, there shall be no fights or deliberate conflicts on the ship. All rulebreakers will be kicked off the ship!”
Bohr immediately nodded his head, “I’ll definitely abide by the rules.”
Bohr looked at the books in excitement. He couldn’t wait to dive right in. Piquat gave him a look of disdain, “Look at how pathetic you are. The library inside the Tower is much bigger. The shelves extend far past what the eye can see. You would not be able to finish reading all the books there even if you spent a lifetime there!”
“Really? I sure look forward to reaching that place!”
Bohr walked in and immediately spotted a person sitting in a corner of the library. The person was reading by the weak light of a lamp. It was past midnight, and everyone should have been asleep by now, but this person was still reading.
“Hello, I am Bohr, the newest wizard apprentice from the kingdom of Gracchus!”
The person reading lifted her head and looked at Bohr, “Hello, I am Catherine from the Mara Kingdom!”
She was a beautiful young woman with blonde hair, and appeared to be a few years younger than Bohr. He blushed. “Pleasure to meet you. From now on, we’re comrades!”
Catherine nodded, then went back to her book. Bohr followed the servant to the rooms on the next level. There was already another apprentice there, but they were asleep. Bohr was also extremely tired, so he went straight to bed after dropping his luggage. He took off his clothes and pulled up his blanket. The covers were warm and comfortable. Bohr quickly fell asleep.