Chapter 324: Re-examination and Giant Octopus

【Light Feather Step+】 (Transmutation, 1st circle):

During the duration of this spell (10 minutes), the recipient will ignore the adverse factors caused by difficult terrain on movement.

Extra: During the duration of this spell, the stamina consumed by the recipient's movement will be reduced.

Frost Gold Month, 16th.

The sea breeze blowing toward him is slightly salty and fishy.

Around him are a large number of guys wearing striped short tops, covered with a dark but faded and old coarse wool or canvas material short coat.

Many of them braid their hair, and then hang decorative things like glass beads or fish bones polished into beads on them, and most of them have messy beards.

They often wrap their heads with red, gray-white, or black headscarves, shuttling through the port like diligent ant colonies.

And not far away is the vast, surging sea with white foam.

This is the seaport of Dorn City, Dorn Port.

The streets of the port are slightly crowded.

Gao De withdrew his gaze from the sea level inside the port.

The calls of seagulls on the port and the sea, mixed with the bagpipe tunes coming from the port taverns, were torn to pieces by the sea breeze and finally fell into the noisy clamor of the port.

Besides the smell of seawater and fish, there was also a unique fragrance floating in the air.

That is a sweet and wine-scented fragrant smell, coming from the large amount of rum sold in the numerous taverns in the port.

Rum, a type of strong liquor obtained from fresh sugarcane juice rich in sugar and water through fermentation, distillation, and other processes.

The taste is quite strong, but the price is very cheap. 20 copper can buy a large cup (about one pint) to drink to your heart's content.

For these sailors who drift on the water all year round and engage in physical labor, this is a very cost-effective enjoyment.

The ground of the entire port is paved with smooth stone slabs.

For a seaport that often suffers from wind and rain, this is a necessary project.

But the construction and maintenance of such a huge project are not something that all seaports can afford. Only a small part of the ports can see such a scene.

Obviously, Dorn Port is one of these small parts of ports.

The entire port is very lively, with many large ships docked, and you can see all kinds of materials on the road.

This is because many large ships dock at the port, often selling goods while replenishing goods.

Gao De walked through the bustling port road and saw many novel things.

For example, porcelain from the distant eastern Zhongting Continent, there are blue and white porcelain with fresh and elegant tones, and pastel porcelain with soft and bright colors, as well as painted porcelain that integrates the painting styles of Zhongting Continent and the Cornflower Dynasty.

These exquisite things are the fashion symbols of the Cornflower Dynasty nobles and are treasures for them to decorate their homes.

If you don't have one or two pieces at home, you are embarrassed to say you are a noble, so you don't have to worry about sales.

In addition, there are even small monkeys with a body length of 20 or 30 centimeters, and the hair color is usually olive or gray.

It is said that they were also transported across the ocean from different continents, smart and human-like, and are also exclusive pets for wealthy families.

Countless things like this made Gao De open his eyes.

Finally, Gao De came to a corner of the port.

This is a place specially set aside for official ships to dock, so there are not many idlers, much quieter and cleaner than other places in Dorn Port.

At this time, a large North Sea three-masted square-rigged sailing ship is docked.

The hull is made of hard and durable oak, seamless and streamlined.

The bow is sharp, which is conducive to breaking waves, and the stern is relatively wide and square, which can provide better stability for the ship.

There is a black stripe at the waterline of the hull, like a black ribbon, tightly wrapped around the hull, separating the upper and lower parts of the hull.

The three high masts are spliced from multiple sections of wood, and each section of wood is tightly connected by iron hoops and ropes, and they are not ordinary wood, but taken from magic trees.

On the main mast, there is a special lookout tower.

In addition, the masts are hung with sails made of earth-vein creature fur.

Compared with the traditional and common linen material sails, the sails made of earth-vein creature fur, because they possess certain supernatural characteristics, can better capture sea breezes, convert into more powerful power, possess waterproof capabilities, and even some strange abilities not yet known.

This large sailing ship has three decks.

At the boarding entrance, there are official personnel wearing navy uniforms doing inspections.

Yes, this large ship is the re-examination location of the Sea Sentinels.

Just after entering this area, Gao De was stopped.

He handed over the parchment obtained during the preliminary test, which not only wrote the time and place of the re-examination but also served as an "admission ticket."

After verifying that the "admission ticket" was fine, Gao De was brought onto the deck of this large ship named "Interceptor."

The deck is made of wooden boards spliced from oak trees at least fifty years old. Unlike ordinary merchant ships or cargo ships, it is washed very clean.

The clean deck, not to mention safety, is very good in terms of visual perception.

When Gao De arrived, there were already nearly twenty young magic users on the deck with slightly nervous and expectant expressions.

Obviously, they were all magic users who passed the preliminary selection like him and came to participate in the re-examination.

These people cast measuring gazes the moment they saw Gao De board the ship, but there was not much hostility in their gazes.

Because the Sea Sentinels' assessment is not a competitive mechanism, which is to say, as long as they meet their requirements, they can all join the Sea Sentinels.

If they can't reach it, even if they don't want one, they won't settle.

After waiting for about ten minutes, more than ten people came one after another, and it was the time set in advance.

For such an important event, naturally, no one was late.

That is to say, the magic users who passed the preliminary test in the Sea Sentinels' selection that lasted for nearly half a month were only thirty-odd, an average of two and a half a day.

And in the re-examination stage, more than half or even more will be screened out.

This is the threshold of the Sea Sentinels.

Although the time had arrived, the chief examiner of the Sea Sentinels did not appear.

As time passed, the thirty-odd people on the deck gradually became a bit restless and started discussing in low voices.

Gao De didn't have much feeling—please, is "leaders" appearing late a very strange thing?

Fortunately, the wait didn't last too long.

After ten minutes, a middle-aged man who looked about forty years old and had a long face walked out of the cabin on the deck.

He wore a majestic Sea Hai Shao Bing magic user uniform, and on the soft black leather, inlaid with gorgeous metal buckles, engraved with the Sea Hai Shao Bing emblem, and the golden epaulets on his shoulders were eye-catching.

That was a crown pattern, representing his military rank as a lieutenant-level magic user.

And behind him followed three younger and lower-ranking Sea Hai Shao Bing magic users.

"Lieutenant Xilin." A logistics staff member sent up a stack of document materials and respectfully handed them over one by one.

At the same time, two people moved up a slightly complicated alchemical machine together. There was a transparent board on this alchemical machine, and I don't know what it was for.

The man called Lieutenant Xilin took the few pieces of parchment casually, "I'm not late, am I?"

"Just in time for the set time. Lieutenant Xilin has always been punctual, we all know that." The staff member had a just-right smile on his face, his tone full of flattery.

"That's good." Lieutenant Xilin smiled slightly, while his eyes swept over the parchment.

He was the chief examiner responsible for the re-examination today.

The parchment handed over by the staff was the list of magic users who passed the preliminary test, followed by some brief personal information introductions and comments from the preliminary test examiners.

"Then start the assessment directly, don't waste time." Lieutenant Xilin ordered unhurriedly while focusing on looking at the information, his voice steady and powerful, carrying unquestionable majesty.

"Received."

The staff member immediately responded loudly.

Afterward, he straightened his back, stepped forward, and opened his mouth to the thirty-odd magic users on the deck who were participating in the re-examination.

"Next, the magic users whose names I call, please be prepared."

"Boen Mike."

The staff member called out the name of the first magic user participating in the re-examination.

The voice traveled very far in the sea breeze.

Afterward, a young male magic user with a square face, looking about twenty years old, stood out from the crowd.

The staff member clapped his hands, and his eyes cast toward the seawater outside the deck.

The next moment, with a splash, a behemoth rushed out of the seawater.

A giant octopus, rushed out of the seawater.

That was a giant octopus, its body like a small hill, a pile of thick tentacles stretching out wantonly from the leathery body, dancing wantonly.

It was covered with black gullies, and the gullies were winding and tortuous. At first glance, it actually looked a bit like the wrinkles on the reproductive egg sac.

"This is your assessment object, Paul, a variant giant octopus of late-first-circle. You don't need to defeat it, of course, you can't do it... It has already abused all our Sea Hai Shao Bing first-circle magic users, and it is a true invincible opponent."

"You only need to show your greatest ability and fight it. The examiner will naturally give you a corresponding score based on your performance in the battle. If the score reaches the passing line, you will pass the re-examination."

The staff member briefly introduced the re-examination process and rules, and then looked at the magic user named Boen Mike.

"Get ready, then go into the water."

Immediately after, he added another sentence: "Leaving the deck is regarded as the start of the battle, and Paul will launch an attack. Friendly reminder, you can cast some buff spells that require time in advance."

The magic user named Boen Mike took a deep breath, trying to calm his nervous mood.

He knew the importance of this re-examination. Under the gaze of everyone, Boen started to cast a first-circle spell Mage Armor and a cantrip to improve resistance on himself.

These are extremely conventional choices.

Actually, it was more than that, because two magical fluctuations had appeared on his body one after another.

It's just that compared to 【Mage Armor】 and 【Improve Resistance】, what specific spells these two fluctuations were could not be seen with the naked eye.

Afterward, Boen, who was ready, flashed a trace of determination in his eyes, and his legs exerted force, jumping out from the deck toward the sea surface.

This jump was actually a full five or six meters away, drawing a neat arc in mid-air.

【Jump Spell】.

Seeing this scene, Gao De judged one of the two spells Boen added.

Splash!

Gao De's thoughts had just wandered when a loud whipping sound came, like a clear sky thunderbolt.

I saw one of Paul's tentacles, looking thick and wet on the surface, but not clumsy at all, like a whip, wrapped in the sound of wind, and whipped over with lightning speed, accurately and correctly whipping on Boen's waist.

This swift blow not only directly interrupted the attack spell Boen was about to cast but also whipped him into the water.

Boom!

Immediately after, there was a deafening huge falling water sound, accompanied by a massive amount of water splashing up, forming a white water mist.

After the white mist dissipated, Boen and Paul disappeared instantly, leaving only ripples continuously expanding outward.

No wonder others don't need to avoid... Gao De, who saw this scene, thought secretly.

He was just thinking that this re-examination had an obvious loophole: the magic users who were whipped later could make some response strategies in advance based on the battle between the previous magic users and Paul. This was obviously unfair to the magic users who participated in the assessment first.

The result was that except for the whipping at the beginning, the rest of the battle took place underwater.

Even if the onlookers stretched their necks and widened their eyes, they could only capture a few waves that turned over occasionally. As for what the battle situation was underwater, they had no way of knowing.

The problem is, even if they can't see it, what about the examiners?

If the examiners can't see the specific battle process, how can they give a score?

With this question, Gao De looked at the examiners and found that the four examiners were focusing all their attention on the transparent board of the alchemical machine.

At this time, the transparent board was emitting a soft faint light.

Although from his angle, he couldn't see what the specific picture on the board was, Gao De also reacted that it should be an alchemical machine similar to "underwater monitoring," broadcasting the underwater picture in real-time.

Gao De was still immersed in this discovery, and his thoughts had not yet returned, when a loud "splash" sound, like a thunderbolt, exploded.

The giant octopus named Paul rushed out of the water again, its huge body wrapped in a massive amount of seawater, refracting dazzling light in the sun.

On one of its tentacles, it was tightly winding and grabbing Boen Mike.

Boen was soaked through by the seawater, his hair sticking to his cheeks in strands, looking embarrassed.

Paul flicked its tentacles slightly, and Boen was thrown heavily onto the deck like a rag doll.

Fortunately, because it was just an assessment, Paul didn't use heavy hands, so after Boen landed, he used his hands and feet to climb up quickly.

It's just that his face was a bit ugly.

Because he knew his performance was too bad, and he definitely couldn't pass the re-examination.

The facts were indeed so.

Lieutenant Xilin calmly made a cross behind Boen Mike's name on the parchment, unhurriedly.

The action was crisp and neat, without any hesitation.

"Next." He said.

"The next one is Pao Locke." The staff member hurriedly stood out to call the name.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 325 =====