At that moment, a sharp-eyed sailor suddenly shouted, “Look, that kid has surfaced—his body seems to be intact!”

“He’s still alive?”

First Mate found it hard to believe and quickly turned to look. When he saw clearly what was happening on the water, he broke into a smile. “Oh, indeed, this is really good news. He’s swimming over—quick, help him!”

“Good lad, he must have killed the shark, otherwise there wouldn’t be so much blood on the surface!”

Lester was taken aback and couldn’t help but sigh, “Truly, you can’t judge a book by its cover.”

The people on deck were all talking at once. No one had expected such an outcome—a skinny youth, fighting a fierce shark in the sea, actually managed to take it down.

“Not good, there’s more than one shark!” a sailor cried out in alarm.

Everyone looked toward the sea and saw three more shark fins moving rapidly across the surface, all converging on Rowland. The sailors knew these sharks had been drawn by the scent of blood—whether it was the blood of their own kind or of prey, it would excite them all the same.

“Swim faster, kid, swim faster!” First Mate waved his hand at the side of the ship, urging him on.

Previously, his impression of Rowland was just that of a boy who was a good swimmer. But after seeing him kill a shark, that impression changed—he became someone capable, someone worthy of respect. Even though he was young, he had just killed a shark!

Rowland had accomplished something none of those present could have done. In a sense, he had become a strong one, and the strong naturally command respect and admiration.

Now, the sailors instinctively didn’t want to see such a capable kid like Rowland get killed by a pack of sharks.

“Throw the harpoons, kill those sharks!” Some sailors began hurling harpoons at the sharks, trying to drive them away.

But sailors aren’t fishermen—their aim with the harpoons was terrible, and several times they nearly hit Rowland instead.

“Stop throwing! Are you trying to commit murder?” First Mate shouted.

Just as the three sharks were about to reach Rowland again, three icy spikes suddenly appeared out of thin air, radiating cold.

The three ice spikes sliced through the air at incredible speed, making a ‘hiss~’ as they whistled by. As they flew, they trailed a line of white mist, which extended out and pointed straight at the sharks in the water.

‘Crack!’ ‘Crack!’ ‘Crack!’—three crisp, shattering sounds rang out. Each ice spike struck a shark in the sea with perfect accuracy, blasting a huge bloody hole in its body.

The three sharks, each nearly two meters long, flipped belly-up without a sound—they were done for.

The sudden turn of events was so shocking that the noisy deck instantly fell silent. Everyone turned to look at the source of the ice spikes, and saw Daisy in a blue dress standing at the ship’s rail. The wisp of white mist swirling around her outstretched hand reminded everyone that those deadly ice spikes were her handiwork.

“Second Miss.” Lester hurried forward to salute.

First Mate and the sailors also quickly saluted, their gazes toward the young woman filled with awe.

“All right, it’s settled. Calvin, you all fish that young man out of the water,” Daisy pointed at Rowland in the sea.

“Yes, Second Miss.” First MateCalvin immediately directed the sailors to pull him up.

“Lester, it’s getting late, and the cargo we’ve hauled up needs to be dealt with. Let’s head back to port.”

“Yes, Second Miss.”

After giving her orders, Daisy glanced at Rowland again, smiled, and then turned to leave. Only when her figure disappeared into the captain’s cabin did everyone feel the pressure in their hearts lift, and they unconsciously let out a sigh of relief.

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

In the water, Rowland saw even more. The intelligent system gave him some information about this woman.

“Daisy·德尔罗斯特.

Level 8 ordinary mage apprentice.

Spells mastered: Ice Spike, Fire Breath, Arcane Wall.”

He hadn’t expected to encounter a real mage—though only an apprentice, her power was already this formidable!

Rowland realized that this mage was nothing like the mage players in games he’d played before. In games, mages were just players manipulating energy—they were still ordinary people. But in this real world, mages represented noble status, unmatched wisdom, and supreme power—very likely the highest class in this world.

If an ordinary mage apprentice already held such status among commoners, then what level must Vivian, a grand mage and a member of the dragon race, be at? Perhaps only the very peak of the pyramid could describe it.

In that instant, Rowland felt the road ahead of him was long, very long.

The body he now inhabited had the most humble of origins, at the very bottom of society. Compared to Vivian, he was worlds apart in every way—like clouds and mud.

“The gap is huge, but as the saying goes, ‘Are kings and nobles born to their station?’ Troubled times produce heroes. The orc tide a year from now, and the ensuing twenty years of chaos, will be my chance to rise rapidly... To fight against the orcs, who will also produce many heroes, I can’t rely on myself alone—I need allies, as many as possible.” Rowland pondered his plans for the future.