Half an hour after Ed boarded the ship, Andre returned as well. The others had already come aboard one after another.

On the table sat a cage Andre had placed there. Inside was a live Golden-Horned Hammer, a special beetle they would need to enter the Thaad Treasure House.

It was exactly the same as the specimen Ed had seen before, striking the wooden cage with its large horns. A rune was engraved on the cage, not hidden but clearly visible.

Ed recognized this rune; he had seen it only recently.

[Soothing Rune] Used to calm emotions.

"Vanessa, this bug is yours for now. Make sure you keep it alive," Andre said to the woman beside him.

Although she didn't particularly like bugs, Vanessa nodded, picked up the cage by its handle, and prepared to take it to the infirmary. After all, they would be at sea for nearly a month; who knew if the beetle would survive that long?

Andre also handed her a small booklet from his pocket, which contained a care manual for the Golden-Horned Hammer.

"Alright, set sail!"

With Andre's command, the sails slid down with a whoosh, and with a creak, the rudder was pulled up, slowly propelling the ship from its berth. As the sails billowed, the bow broke through the sea, heading into the distance.

At this moment, Bobby said, "We need to get to Hidden Island first; we need to buy the materials they require for their studies there."

Hearing Bobby's words, Andre looked at Ed and Jason and nodded. "It's on the way. Elena, you take the helm."

Hearing her father's words, Elena nodded and went out. Taking the helm meant the island wasn't on the automatic navigation route, so the spell-ship couldn't sail there automatically; it had to be controlled manually.

Bobby then led Ed to the lower deck. Ed wanted to learn spell inscription, a skill needed by almost all crafting professions. Not to mention, Bobby was an expert in this field, an inscription master. Ed needed to create corresponding spell cards for use in battle. For this, he obviously needed guidance, as he was a complete novice who didn't know much about such things.

"You don't necessarily need to learn the spellbook to inscribe it, but if you do, it will be easier, and the inscribed spells will be more powerful," Bobby explained as they walked.

"You learn spells very quickly. Sailing on the high seas, you have plenty of free time, which you can use to learn the spells you want to inscribe. Learning doesn't require excessive mastery; it won't take too much time or effort."

"Learning spells with the resonance method is indeed fast, but unfortunately, there's no shortcut to quickly becoming familiar with and fully mastering them," Lucilia added seriously. As always, she was hanging on Ed's back, her breasts pressing against him while she listened to Bobby's explanation. The so-called resonance method was the same one Ed had used when learning the [Soundbird] spell.

"I haven't seen the spells you've comprehended. But the runes you've comprehended all have good potential. I hope you can develop them further, but it's still up to you," Bobby said, pushing open the door to his workshop.

At this moment, Lucilia, behind Ed's back, said, "You must deeply master the spells you've learned. Every spell learned through a [Treasure] is a source, generally possessing immense potential."

Hearing this, Ed nodded. He did indeed want to further develop the [Mirror] spell. After all, even an idiot knew that what gave you power was your foundation, and you should develop it to its peak before seeking other things. In his case, the Mirror Treasure was what unlocked his magic, so developing it came foremost.

However, it was clear that Lucilia's knowledge far surpassed that of Bobby and most others on the ship—understandable, given she was called a "biological computer" or "Miss Know-It-All." Those titles weren't a joke.

"Alright, now let's begin inscribing the spell. Inscribe the [Soundbird] you've already learned."

...

Sailing on the high seas is inevitably tedious. Even the largest ship seems insignificant compared to small islands and land. The seascape was always monotonous, breeding a sense of unease.

Under these circumstances, Ed devoted almost all his time on the ship to training and studying, as if he had nothing better to do. He believed that if he didn't keep busy, he might go crazy.

The endless sea and the silent crew, each person monotously doing their own thing, rarely interacting or engaging in fun activities, drove him mad. There was even a time when he didn't talk to anyone except Jason and Uncle Matt (the cook) for an entire week. One could hardly imagine how wonderful his life on the ship was.

Anyway, back to the topic: his shallow understanding of the outside world desperately needed to be filled with knowledge. He was even learning some commonly used languages from Lucilia, while occasionally taking advantage of her and playing with her body. He was fully confident that if his plan worked perfectly, he might be able to play with her breasts as freely as he played with her buttocks.

"What did you do in your previous life? You seem super knowledgeable; you seem to know almost everything," Ed asked softly. They were sitting in a corner of the library on the lower deck, listening to Lucilia's explanation. This question had always been on his mind, but whenever he asked, she would just dismiss him, thinking he was complimenting her, and she never truly answered.

Hearing Ed's question, which sounded like praise, Lucilia smiled proudly. "I was the librarian of the Sacred Tree Library, of course. I spent almost half my time there. Only by absorbing knowledge could I feel alive."

No wonder, Ed thought. Considering an Elf's super-long lifespan, around thousands of years, half her time probably amounted to centuries. Since she genuinely enjoyed reading and had an extraordinary memory, it now made sense why she had so much knowledge in her head.

Ed also had some understanding of Lucilia's circumstances in her previous life, which was another reason she liked to stay inside the library all the time. Her congenital disability made it almost impossible for her to sail at sea.

Her family was also a Toucher family, possessing multiple [Treasures], but her frail body made it impossible for her to become a Toucher herself. Fortunately, the family atmosphere was decent, and they arranged for her to stay in a very safe and comfortable place. Her congenital disability meant she could only pass the time by reading.

Hearing this, Ed simply smiled gently, finding it a good chance to pull her into his arms and hug her tightly. Lucilia blushed hard, but since it was the first time Ed had done this kind of shameless thing, she didn't react too violently. The first time he hugged her, she had been so nervous she screamed and hid in her mirror out of shame.

Looking at Lucilia sitting beside him, he pushed her green hair behind her ears and said softly, "Although you couldn't sail in your previous life, perhaps now I can show you around this world."

Lipoka, standing near the library entrance, couldn't help but glance up at Ed's spot in the corner. Listening to his occasional mutterings and the way he laughed to himself once in a while like a madman, she immediately labeled him as a weirdo. But then, few treasure hunters who spent so much time at sea were normal, after all.

Not long after, Ed finished teasing Lucilia. His studies for the day were also done, so he went to the open deck and entered the wheelhouse. Elena was at the helm, steering the sailboat toward a small island not far away.

"This island isn't on the nautical chart; the Touchers in the surrounding waters usually trade here," Elena said beside him.

Ed nodded with a smile while rubbing his hands eagerly. His mind, however, wasn't on the things Touchers could buy from this hidden island, he didn't have much money and doubted anything related to Touchers would be cheap. Instead, he was thinking about how long they would stay here and whether there were any high-end brothels, since he was fully recovered and couldn't wait to have another "battle" with a beautiful lady.

Elena, not knowing Ed's true motive and thinking he might be excited to see magical items, continued explaining, "This is the only trading island in these seas used by Touchers for the items they need. Although the sea is vast and there are many islands, the number of Touchers is limited. Even in such a vast sea, only this one trading point is enough."

As the island drew closer, Ed also spotted several other sailing ships nearby. What these ships had in common was their size; most were similar to their ship, the Blue Fist, or even larger.

Their paint schemes and exteriors were also quite flamboyant, making them instantly recognizable. In the distance, a massive three-masted sailing ship, at least forty meters long, stood out. Its sails were black, adorned with a skull pierced by a sword.

"A pirate ship?" Ed wondered, looking at Elena with surprise, concerned they might suddenly attack.

"After all, major pirates are mostly Touchers, and this is a good place to sell stolen goods, so encountering pirates isn't surprising," Elena explained calmly, already knowing his worry.

"They wouldn't dare attack others recklessly around this island. It's not easy for Touchers to have such a safe trading point; nobody wants to break the rules here, so you can rest assured."

Hearing this, Ed nodded, breathing a sigh of relief. He wasn't ready to fight crazy pirates with supernatural powers. God knew if some idiot had a self-destruct or bomb-like thing to throw at him; he might not even know how he died. Most pirates didn't gain their reputation as madmen for no reason.

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