Chapter 8

When Roland was fighting the shark in the seawater, the sailors on the deck of the *Daisy* saw the blood-red color spreading on the sea surface. The sailors all sighed deeply, "It's over, that boy Roland is finished."

No one thought that a seemingly frail young man could kill a shark. In fact, on this ship, not a single sailor or dock worker could accomplish such a feat.

Everyone in Vandom knew how terrifying the sea sharks were.

"That poor boy, he came out to earn some silver for the first time, and now he's dead at the hands of a shark," Gert sighed, but it was just a sigh.

"I must say, this is truly a regrettable thing," the butler Rast shook his head and then turned to the first mate, "It's getting dark, we can't work anymore today. Let's go back."

The first mate nodded and began to call the sailors to raise the anchor and set sail. No one truly cared about the life or death of an orphan who earned his living at the dock.

Just then, a sharp-eyed sailor shouted, "Look, the boy is surfacing, and his body seems to be intact."

"Is he still alive?"

The first mate found it hard to believe and quickly turned to look. When he saw the situation on the water, he laughed, "Oh, indeed, this is really good news. He's swimming over, hurry and help him!"

"Good boy, he must have killed the shark, otherwise, there wouldn't be so much blood on the surface!"

Rast was stunned and couldn't help but sigh, "Truly, one cannot judge a person by their appearance."

The people on the deck were talking among themselves, none of them expected such an outcome. A frail young man had fought a fierce shark in the sea and actually killed it.

"Not good, there's more than one shark!" the sailor shouted in alarm again.

Everyone looked at the sea and saw three more shark fins moving rapidly on the surface, their center of movement was right where Roland was. The sailors knew that these sharks were attracted by the smell of blood, whether it was the blood of their own kind or their prey, it would equally excite them.

"Swim faster, boy, swim faster!" the first mate waved from the side of the ship, urging him on.

Previously, his impression of Roland was just a very good swimmer, but after the boy killed a shark, his impression changed. The boy became someone with real skills, someone to be respected, despite his young age, he had just killed a shark!

Roland accomplished what no one present could do. In a sense, he became a strong person, and strong people naturally command respect and admiration.

Now, the sailors instinctively didn't want to see such a capable young man be killed by a group of sharks.

"Quick, throw the harpoons, kill those sharks!" some sailors started throwing harpoons at the sharks, trying to drive them away.

But the sailors were not fishermen, and their aim with the harpoons was very poor, almost hitting Roland several times.

"Stop throwing, do you want to commit murder?" the first mate shouted.

As the three sharks were about to reach Roland again, three icy spikes suddenly appeared in the air, emitting a cold aura.

These three ice spikes moved through the air at an extremely fast speed, making a 'swoosh' sound. As they flew, they left a trail of white mist, which pointed to the sharks in the water.

With three crisp 'crack' sounds, each ice spike accurately hit the sharks in the sea, creating large bloody holes in their bodies.

The three nearly two-meter-long sharks flipped over silently and were finished.

This sudden change was so unexpected that the deck immediately turned from noisy to completely silent. Everyone turned to look at the source of the ice spikes and saw Daisy, dressed in a blue dress, standing at the edge of the ship. The white mist entwined around her outstretched hand reminded everyone that those deadly ice spikes were her doing.

"Miss Daisy." Rast hurriedly came forward to bow.

The first mate and the sailors also hurriedly bowed, looking at the young woman with great reverence.

"Alright, the matter is settled. Cowen, you and the others bring that boy up." Daisy pointed to Roland in the water.

"Yes, Miss Daisy." The first mate Cowen immediately directed the sailors to rescue Roland.

"Rast, it's getting late, and the cargo we picked up needs to be handled. Let's head back to the port."

"Yes, Miss Daisy."

After giving the orders, Daisy glanced at Roland, smiled, and then turned back. It wasn't until her figure disappeared into the captain's cabin that everyone felt the pressure in their hearts lift, and they couldn't help but sigh in relief.

The power of these noble and wise mages was truly terrifying.

In the water, Roland saw more. The AI gave him some information about this woman.

"Daisy Delrost

8th-level ordinary mage apprentice

Mastery of spells: Ice Spike, Fire Breath, Arcane Wall."

He didn't expect to encounter a real mage, even if just an apprentice, but this power was already so great!

Roland realized that this mage was not like the mage players in the game. In the game, mages were just players who controlled energy; they were still ordinary people. But in this real world, mages represented noble status, unparalleled wisdom, and supreme power, possibly the highest class in this world.

If an ordinary mage apprentice had such a status among ordinary people, what level would a high mage, and especially a dragon, like Vianna, be? Perhaps only the pinnacle of a pyramid could describe it.

At this moment, Roland felt that the road he had to walk was very, very long.

His body's origin was extremely humble, at the very bottom of society. Compared to Vianna, he was far behind in every aspect, like the difference between heaven and earth.

"The gap is indeed large, but as the saying goes, are kings and generals born to their roles? Heroes emerge in times of chaos. The orc frenzy a year from now, and the turbulent times for the next twenty years, are exactly my opportunity for rapid rise... To fight against the orcs, who will also produce many heroes, I can't do it alone. I need help, the more the better." Roland pondered his future plans.

"Roland, the path you must take is the path of a king, because only a king can stand firm in this world and have the capital and power to welcome the Federation." The AI gave the answer.

Roland was stunned, then agreed with the AI's statement, "You're right, it's the path of a king."

But not for the sake of some nonsense about welcoming the Federation.

In the sea, the surviving sharks seemed to be scared away by the supernatural power, and Roland smoothly returned to the deck of the *Daisy*.

"Good boy, you're impressive." The first mate came over and patted Roland on the shoulder.

Roland smiled foolishly, scratched his head, and said apologetically, "Sir, I have to apologize to you, I lost the dagger you lent me."

The first mate was stunned, then laughed and shook his head, "Just a dagger, if it's lost, it's lost. No problem."

Roland didn't act pretentiously, "Thank you very much."

"Ha, good boy, your spirit is much stronger than your body. He is very brave." The first mate patted Roland on the shoulder and then turned to direct the sailors to set sail back to the port.

Roland put on his clothes and soon noticed that the attitude of the sailors and dock workers toward him had subtly changed. The faint disdain in their eyes had completely disappeared. When he occasionally looked at them, they would smile and nod at him.

Uncle Gert no longer looked at him like a child. When he saw Roland, he laughed, "If that old drunk Amos knew his adopted son was so brave, he would jump out of the water in surprise, ha ha."

In short, by killing a shark, Roland gained the recognition and respect of everyone.

More than an hour later, the *Daisy* returned to the Vandom port. When he got off the ship, Rast fulfilled his promise, paying the reward at the rate of one silver coin per cargo box, so Roland had seven silver coins in his hand.

Compared to the few copper coins he earned from odd jobs at the dock in the past, this amount of money could be called a windfall. It was enough to let Roland live a month of drinking and eating meat every day.

If he hadn't met the AI, Roland would have really spent the money on food and drink, but now, he had to use this money to earn a greater reputation.

Because a brave reputation would be of great help to his future development.

Thinking this, he turned and walked toward a small restaurant by the dock. But just a few steps later, he heard someone calling his name. Turning around, he saw the first mate of the *Daisy*, the man named Cowen.

"Is there something, sir?"

"I don't have anything, but our young lady wants to see you. She wants to meet you."