Chun had a bold idea: since he couldn't choose, why not select them all! Go to the old man's warehouse, find the holy artifact rope, and tie the boats together, arranging nine of them in a "Nine-cylinder" formation.
Don't even talk about boats, even tying random pieces of wood and water buckets into this shape makes a "raft," which won't sink.
So rowing nine small boats simultaneously would be equivalent to exceeding the limit by 8 times. That's like tying 8 times the usual sandbags on your hands and feet during training. What kind of state would you reach once you grasp it? Maybe another hidden skill?
Even if you fail to understand, the Fishing Technique is practically a freebie, and fishing goes hand in hand with cooking, so it's a free pair.
Having understood, I went to the old man's warehouse to get the fishing rods and rope, ready for midnight training.
From afar, you could hear the old man's thunderous snoring, sleeping soundly. So, you can't wait for him to wake up naturally; it's not impossible for him to sleep a whole day and night.
Found the fishing rods, six of them:
——Lucky Fishing Rod: Fishing gear, Luck +2, Weight 5, Durability 300.
——System Notice: Warning! You have unauthorized access to the old drunkard's property, friendliness decreases...
No wonder he's the old man, all his fishing rods come with luck attributes! Although the luck value isn't very high, for a newbie to buy one within a week, it's impossible.
There are extra coals in the kitchen corner, pack an extra bag, and cooking on the boat. I also saw a sailor's oil lamp, take it, because of the night training.
As for other items... forget it, can't squander friendliness points now, otherwise, when the old man wakes up, he might explode?
Chun carried various supplies back to the beach, ready.
The remaining time is spent diving into the dock to pick some fresh shells for cooking ingredients.
...
In real-time it's 5 AM, but in the game, it's 5 PM with the evening approaching and the end of the workday.
Just then, the shipyard guard came over with an impatient expression.
Chun's heart tightened, could it be he's kicking me out after work? If so, then all my preparation was for nothing.
"Someone's at the gate looking for you."
The guard said, then turned and left.
Chun was shocked! Who in this game could be specifically looking for me? They could even have the guard relay a message?
Full of expectation and suspicion, Chun went to the gate and saw a young girl with a basket and an umbrella waving at the entrance.
It was Sherry! Chun was so excited he couldn't believe it: "Dear, why are you here?"
Sherry said, "After school, I came to find you! Actually, starting today we have a week of internship leave. Miss Vivian said you've been working here, but might mess up due to drinking, so I came to see if I could help you."
Messing up due to drinking? No problem, the old man got drunk, so I couldn't hand in the task...
But that's not the point, the point is Chun wanted to know more about her, must cherish this meeting opportunity: "How can you help me?"
Sherry took out a bottle of wine and some jerky from her basket and handed them to the guard: "Brother guard, my friend needs help..."
The guard was so happy: "No problem, go ahead..."
Did that let an outsider in? The management of this shipyard is too lame, right?
Chun wanted to figure this issue out: "Sherry, can anyone just bribe the guard with wine to get in?"
"Has to be a friend of the shipyard staff. I just spent 5 coins earlier to have him pass on the message for you..."
Speaking, Sherry took off a button-like ornament from her neckline: "Actually, I'm here with more important things, I used the sponsorship money to buy an attendant badge, would you like to be my attendant?"
——System Notice: Apprentice Mage's Attendant Sherry wishes to sign a "Mage's Attendant" contract with you, the mage and attendant default to a master-attendant team relationship, sharing tasks, do you agree?
The NPC Mage tradition is to recruit a bunch of loyal bodyguards as attendants, who else but me for this, agree!
——System Notice: Congratulations! You've signed a contract with Sherry, friendliness level increased to "Implicit Trust." You can check Sherry's basic attributes.
Sherry smiled and pinned the button onto Chun's collar: "This is the attendant badge, wearing it allows you to enter the Mage School, and you can have long-distance communication with me too but it consumes my mana, currently, my mana won't last long for communication, but as our strength grows, the badge's effect will be better."
——System Notice: You have obtained the profession equipment "Mage's Attendant Badge." This badge is contract bound and cannot be discarded or dropped.
It can communicate!
Have to say, this game, apart from physical load and hunger, also has a maddeningly "realistic" setting of conserving computational power to reduce server load and recover mining coins. There's no common friend chat system seen in traditional online games! Can only buy the game's magic phone "Golden Apple," 0 down payment! Or through guild channels, legion channels.
After all, friends chat, this long-distance sound transmission, top-notch technology communication function, how could it be any random newbie's function? Love it or leave it, a game that can mine and make money is just that willful.
Anyway, players can contact offline, Chun's not interested in chatting, doesn't affect much. But being able to communicate with NPCs, now that's a big deal!
Chun enthusiastically checked her attributes:
——Sherry: Level 5
Profession: Apprentice Mage Student.
Skills: Basic Meditation, Basic Frost Freeze Technique, Basic Tailoring, Basic Gardener.
Attack 15, Magic Attack 5, Defense 1, Spirit 1, Life Value 115, Mana Value 15, Load 115, Physical Strength 150.
...
Uh... though her attributes are excellent, compared to me being level 1, she does indeed need protection!
Chun was a bit anxious: "Does your week off mean I have to become strong enough to protect you within the week?"
Sherry shook her head: "Actually it doesn't matter much, we can just give up some of the harder internship tasks."
"What's the internship task?"
"It's basically various citizen commission tasks, some tasks from the adventure guild are subcontracted to the school. They pay the school, and the school lets internship students complete them. The school only pays students with credits, and higher credits allow learning advanced magic..."
Holy shit! This isn't just interns working for free, it's interns paying to work! This school really knows how to play.
The two arrived at the dock.
Chun looked around and revealed the truth, "Actually, I've completed my task, but the old man got drunk and couldn't hand in the task, so I have a plan for tonight..."
Sherry got excited, "I can help you practice rowing, let's call it our first cooperation!"
The lonely night is the hardest to endure! Oh no, rowing alone mostly ends up going in circles, only when two people row together can they push through the waves...
Chun was moved, "Okay, I'll prepare first!"
Chun started to push nine slightly reliable-looking small boats into the water one by one and then began to tie them with a rope.
Sherry immediately pointed out the problem, "That's not how you tie the knot. It should be like this to be stable..."
Chun was amazed by her bewildering technique that looked like a butterfly knot, "Is this a folk skill?"
Sherry laughed, "Yes! It's just a fancy knot, every girl can do it."
Holy shit! Even with the opportunity to learn this folk skill, I couldn't manage it.
Once all nine boats were linked, there was no visible leakage on the boat bottoms. All the previously prepared tools were loaded, and Sherry sat securely on the boat, and six fishing rods were hung along the boat's edge.
Finally, Chun gave a push to start drifting away from the shore.
Sherry, full of interest, shouted a slogan, "One, two, one!"
With the combined efforts of the two, the nine boats further left the shore.
Before long, a bell on one of the fishing rods shook, and Chun immediately lifted the rod!
—System Notice: Congratulations! You successfully caught a small "sardine," and successfully grasped level 1 basic "fishing technique," achieving: Physical Strength +1, Load +1.
Here we go!
No wonder it's the lucky fishing rod, worthy of being the most common sardine, collectively referred to with salmon, yellow croaker, and yellow croakers as the newbie package, also a fixed recipe in each main city. Newbies find it hard to develop recipes surpassing the system by cooking them, but they can quickly rush to level 10 in basic cooking with them.
Sherry furrowed her brow, "When you lifted the rod just now, the oars stopped, affecting the rowing practice."
Chun suddenly remembered this conflict, as it's not a sailboat after all.
"Then we just ignore the fish and wait till we're tired of rowing to rest before fishing?"
Sherry seemed a little embarrassed, "But wouldn't that affect the fishing practice?"
Miss Sherry, you really know how to keep things engaging!
Chun had to bring out an unreliable fishing method from an internet cafe hero, "If a small fish bites the hook and doesn't escape, it'll become bait and could attract big fish. Then we can just catch the big fish directly, right?"
Sherry laughed, "That also works."
So the two continued "One, two, one," with the other fishing rods' bells starting to ring entirely. Chun forced himself to remain unfazed, but admittedly, it's very hard to resist. Which angler could hold it in?
—System Notice: Night has fallen; dear players, while enjoying the romantic night scene, do not overlook the dangers darkness brings.
Night officially set in!
The night wind began to strengthen, and with it, the waves, causing creaks and a splashing sound to emit from the center boat as it squeezed and swayed under pressure.
Indeed, it started leaking! Although Chun believed this chain raft wouldn't sink, they were still risking Sherry's safety...
Sherry, however, reached out and blocked it, "Don't panic, watch my Frost Freeze Technique!"
The next moment, bits of ice spread from her palm, quickly forming and stopping the leak.
Holy shit! The Frost Freeze Technique isn't even considered attack magic, its only practical use is slightly slowing the enemy. Who would have thought it could be used like this!
Chun got excited, "What other magic do you know, my dear?"
Sherry said, "I currently have learned all the basic beginner meditation and Frost Freeze Technique, next I have to choose a profession. The tuition for powerful combat professions is particularly expensive. I haven't decided yet; maybe you could help me with some advice?"
Sure enough, she wants me to be involved in her growth!
Chun began to be serious, "Do you have to decide before the internship break?"
Sherry gave a faint smile, "Actually, I'm inclined towards the less crowded and cheaper ice specialization, useful for keeping flowers fresh and for preserving seafood to sell inland."
The priority for going inland is combat power! After all, it's about money.
At that moment, Chun realized the current was off; the boats were being pushed out to sea and accelerating.
Chun suddenly realized, "It's the tides, it's ebbing!"
Sherry was also startled, "Does that mean we'll get carried into the open sea by the currents?"
As her attendant, I had to give her peace of mind. Chun forced himself to remain calm, "It's okay, we have food and supplies, we can just ride the tide back come morning high tide, before the factory even starts work."
Sherry indeed calmed down, "We've been rowing for half a day without making progress, perhaps it's because of the slow rowing speed; how about rowing along with the current?"
Does speed have anything to do with it?
Chun's heart skipped a beat, "Sounds reasonable!"