Chapter 340: Snail Picker
Another wave hit the boy on the head, and the boy was pushed into the water, his limbs struggling and twitching.
The sea level there was just above his knees, but he couldn't stand up at all.
The people around heard the boy's struggle, stopped again, stood up and looked in the boy's direction, but no one reached out to save him.
As he sank and floated, the boy occasionally raised his face above the water and called for help, but no one came to his rescue, and the others did not even take off the black scarves on their faces.
They just looked in the direction where the boy's voice came from, with numb sadness on their faces.
Thor, who was not wearing a black scarf, naturally saw what happened.
The rope around the boy's waist had broken at some point, and a transparent hand was pulling the rope from the deep sea.
Therefore, when the boy who fell tried to climb to the shore along the rope, he was actually moving towards a more terrifying deep water area.
Thor's face turned cold.
That transparent hand was not the pale arm of a dead person that he saw between the waves.
That is level 0 sorcery, the hand of the mage.
Faint magical vibrations were heard, and Thor was searching for even weaker mental fluctuations within them.
He turned his head to look in the direction where the mental power came from, and saw two wizard apprentices, a man and a woman, in the shadows under the cliff.
The man was tall and strong, with an expressionless face; the woman leaned on the man's chest like a little bird, turned her head, and looked at the boy struggling in the sea with a smile.
Just as the boy's struggles grew weaker, Thor suddenly moved his fingers.
The freezing cold sea water suddenly turned into a pair of gentle hands, holding the boy's back and lifting him out of the water.
Not until the boy stood up in panic and confusion did the hands turn into sea water again, splashing on the boy's thighs again and again.
Thor's act of saving people naturally attracted the attention of the two apprentices.
The man still looked at her expressionlessly, while the woman rolled her eyes without disguising herself.
But they took no further action.
Obviously, the killing just now was just a spur of the moment act, and they did not want to have a conflict with another strange wizard because of it.
The wizard's hand in the sea also disappeared. The boy stood there and finally found that his rope had broken.
He licked his dry lips that even the sea water could not moisten, and whispered, "My rope is broken."
Because of choking on water, his throat was very dry and he sounded like a ghost hiding in the darkness.
After a while, someone finally responded to him, "This is the shore."
The man did not lie to the boy, he was indeed stepping on a beach without water.
But the sea breeze and waves distorted his voice, making it difficult for the boy to tell where the speaker was standing.
He groped his way through two steps and nearly slipped again.
Because of the struggle just now, he had come to a deeper place. If he accidentally fell, he might drown.
This is too dangerous! The boy managed to stabilize himself amidst the waves, but he had lost his position again.
Finally he clenched his teeth and blood began to flow from his tense lips.
He carefully straightened his head and then lifted a corner of the black scarf on his face.
He didn't dare look at the sky or the sea. He just wanted to quickly scan the surroundings to determine the direction of the beach.
However, as soon as he turned his sight 30 degrees, he saw the beach and a person covered in a gray cloak standing on the beach.
The man was standing near his companions who were picking snails with him, but his companions obviously did not notice his presence.
Judging from the other person's dress and temperament, he must be a wizard.
The boy shrank his shoulders in fear, but he suddenly thought of the hands that had suddenly helped him up.
The hand was so warm, like a stove in winter compared to the cold sea water.
The boy bowed deeply in Thor's direction. As he bent down, the splashing waves wet his face again.
"He's quite smart." Looking at the boy who bowed to him and almost buried his head in the sea, Thor smiled.
"Xiao Zao, pull him over here."
Xiao Zao received the order, flew over quickly, grabbed the boy's waist, lifted him up, jumped out of the sea, and flew towards Thor.
When the boy was wrapped up by the algae, he struggled for a while, but soon calmed down and was carried to Thor obediently.
"Master Wizard." The boy fell to his knees and rested his forehead on the cold sand.
"Get up, I have a few questions for you."
The boy hesitated. He had met wizards before, but they always made him kneel down to answer.
In other words, he doesn't care what posture he is in.
But thinking of how Thor had just saved him, he chose to get up.
"What are you picking up?"
"To answer your Excellency's question, we are picking up black conches."
There are black conches here?
Black conch is also a witchcraft material, but it is not precious and not very useful in the wizarding world.
Despite this, because of its connection with wizards, it has become a rare delicacy in the eyes of ordinary people.
Wizard Tari also cooks this dish, but Thor is not used to seafood and rarely orders it.
The most delicious part of black conch is the internal organs inside the conch, but eating too much will cause hallucinations.
Some wealthy people also use it as a hallucinogenic drug, to harm others, and occasionally themselves.
Since there are black conches here, Thor understands why some people would risk their lives to catch them here.
"Do you know how often a soul tide occurs here?"
Although he had asked these questions to the wealthy businessman Pound once.
But the perspective of the wealthy businessmen and those who risk their lives to go to the sea are definitely different.
Hearing the term “soul tide”, the boy’s body, with his back to the sea, trembled again.
"To answer your question, it has happened this past year...almost ten times. It happened twice in the last month alone."
Has it become twice a month? Isn't it too frequent? "Have you ever seen Soul Tide? How harmful is it? I mean... does someone die every time it happens?"
"To answer your question, sir," the boy pursed his dry lips, "someone dies every time...my father was involved last month."
Saul paused.
I just picked someone at random and asked the person involved.
According to the wealthy businessman Pound, the frequency of soul tides was low in the past few years, only once or twice a year. Before entering the port, the ship would receive a signal from the shore and anchor outside for one night, and could enter the port normally the next day.
However, in recent years, the frequency of tides has increased and few ships dare to dock here.
According to Pound, the main complaint was that Bluewater Bay's economy was not as good as before because it no longer had a port to support it, but the Soul Tide also did not cause many casualties.
According to the boy, these fishermen who originally made their living by the sea had no choice but to return to the sea to support themselves after the depression of Blue Water Bay.
But even such a dangerous job as picking black conchs requires certain conditions to join.
The boy's father was a snail picker before he died, so the boy had the opportunity to inherit this job.
After listening to the boy's story, the sky became darker.
The wind started to blow on the sea.
The people who were picking up conches in the shallows quickly returned to the shore, pulling the ropes one by one.
Only when they reached dry land did they remove the black scarves that were covering their eyes.
Only then did they realize that the boy had returned to the shore and was talking to a mysterious man.
These snail pickers dared not to approach or leave. They could only turn their backs to the sea and shiver in the cold wind.
"...Okay, go back, I have no problem."
Thor had already learned from the boy the general frequency of the soul tides, so he didn't let him stay.
But when the boy looked at the people behind him, he turned his head again and mustered up all his courage.
"Excuse me, sir. I have two sisters and three brothers. Could you please see if they could possibly become your apprentices?"
(End of this chapter)
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