Ash and Sonia sat on the boat, reading the cowhide-covered magician's manual intently.
Like the previous magician manuals, this manual does not record any information about the magician himself. Let's call him an 'explorer'.
Why is he called that? Because his biggest hobby is exploring various natural landscapes, and this handbook contains information about the various scenic spots he has visited in the past.
"Lava Cave"
"After spending more than a year on the construction site, Phase 3 of the project is finally finished. I should have time to visit the lava cave before the captain takes on a new job."
"We came to the village closest to the lava cave, but the captain said he received another big project. Sigh."
"A few months later, I found time to explore the lava cave again. This time I was lucky. I spent a lot of money and hired a local to take me in."
"It's amazing. Lava just flows on the ground, the pollen of the blooming flowers can actually ignite and explode, but inside the lava cave is an icy and refreshing underground river... It's a wonderful wonderland!"
"So happy, so scary, I actually met a female Jade Fire Dragon. It must have escaped from the virtual world a long time ago and created a nest in the lava cave! Haha, I took a photo, and the royalties from submitting it for publication are enough for me to go to the lava cave again!"
The general format is like this. Explorers often go through many twists and turns before setting out on their journey, and occasionally they have to interrupt their journey due to work. It can be said that they take care of the immediate needs while not forgetting poetry and the distance.
"He's probably a civil architect," Sonia said, and Ash nodded in agreement.
Living on construction sites for a long time, working continuously when there are projects, and resting without income when there are no projects. In addition, they all travel alone, so it is estimated that explorers will be single dogs until they get old... It turns out that civil engineers are all the same no matter which world they are in.
The first half of the manual contains various scenic spots that the explorer has visited in reality, while the second half contains scenic spots in the ocean of knowledge - yes, for explorers, the virtual world can also be considered a tourist destination.
If he met a wizard who liked fishing, Ash had no doubt that he would fish in the Sea of Knowledge. However, fishing in the Sea of Knowledge was obviously extremely risky with extremely low returns: either the wizard would come up empty-handed, or the knowledge creatures would not.
There are many attractions in the Sea of Knowledge. In addition to the "Whirlpool", there are also "Sea Waterfall", "Great Road", "Sky Bubble" and other permanent attractions. Even Sonia has never heard of many of them - because they are different from the "Whirlpool", they can't bring any benefits to the magician, and Jianhua University naturally won't teach them.
The "Sea Falls" is just as its name suggests, a waterfall that suddenly falls from the sea; the "Great Road" is a land road that runs through the entire sea of knowledge; and the "Sky Bubble" is a huge bubble floating in the sky. When it appears, the surrounding white mist will become much lighter.
The above three are attractions that the explorer has personally witnessed. He once jumped into a sea waterfall to see what was below, but ended up dying in the void; he ran very far on the Great Road until he collapsed from exhaustion; he watched bubbles in the sky floating by, so fast that he could not catch up at all.
The words in the magician's manual were filled with the joy and excitement of the explorers when they witnessed the wonders of the world with their own eyes. Even Ash and Sonia couldn't help but smile knowingly.
Finally, they came to the chapter about the golden fish.
"Golden Fish"
"I looked up a lot of information and visited many scholars, trying to find the location of the golden fish. But the golden fish is worthy of being the greatest secret in the sea of knowledge, and there is very little information about it. So I read novels about the golden fish - maybe someone has found the golden fish, and couldn't resist the desire to show off, so he secretly hid the truth in the novel? I think it's very likely."
"Most magicians and scholars believe that the golden fish should be in the most dangerous core area, but I have a different opinion: the golden fish carries the time continent on its back. Can such a big fish really be accommodated in the core area?"
"But no wizard has yet explored the core area. Perhaps the ocean of knowledge is much larger than we imagined."
"Only a magician who has fully spread his silver wings can find the golden fish? It's very likely. I'd better complete the 10,000-mile voyage as soon as possible."
"I have spread my silver wings and visited the core area, but I still can't find any trace of the golden fish. Is it possible that it sinks into the sea most of the time and only occasionally floats to the surface?"
"It's very possible. I decided to dive into the sea. I died."
"died."
"died."
"It's time for me to retire... My friends have advised me not to go to the virtual world. If I die in the virtual world at my age, the damage to my soul will shorten my lifespan dramatically. The last time I died in the virtual world, I almost had brain death."
"But I really want to take one look at the golden fish... Even if I die immediately after taking one look, I'm willing..."
"Golden fish, where is it..."
"I think I found the golden fish."
Damn!
Ash and Sonia almost wanted to drag out the old magician they had just beaten and beat him up again - you didn't even leave the most crucial information! What we want to know is how you found the golden fish!
I'll give you two coins and ask you to complete the process for me!
"If it's true, then the golden fish is too big. How can a normal person climb up it? Luckily, I'm a soil mage. I can keep piling up the dirt. This height is not a problem for me. It seems that I will be able to see the true appearance of the golden fish in my lifetime."
"Ten floors... Fifty floors... One hundred floors... No, we have to rebuild the foundation. The golden fish is too high."
"Two hundred floors... three hundred floors... five hundred floors..."
“Oh, if only I could fly.”
"When the height exceeded 800 floors, the earth pile under my feet collapsed. Falling from this height, I'm afraid my entire soul would be shattered... The tombstone I prepared for myself finally came in handy."
"Although I still feel a little regretful, at least I found the golden fish before I died, so I can rest in peace... Wait, I haven't cleaned up my collection at home yet!"
The Wizard's Manual ends here. The Golden Fish is the last attraction the explorer will pursue in his life.
"So how did he find the golden fish?" Sonia was very confused: "He had been looking for it for such a long time and couldn't find it, how did he suddenly encounter it?"
"Maybe it's because he's too old?" Ash guessed, "Could it be that the golden fish only appears in front of magicians who are about to die of old age?"
After discussing it for a while without any conclusion, Ash and Sonia let the matter go. Anyway, their silver wings were not fully condensed yet, so there was no rush to look for the golden fish.
The three sorcerers dropped by the explorer were all earth sorcerers, which could just form a miracle, but Ash and Sonia had no interest in earth sorcery, so after discussion Ash accepted them - the pay for the production positions corresponding to the earth sorcerer faction was not very good, so the value of the earth sorcerers was not high, and even if Sonia sold them, she would not make much money.
As for the wizard's manual, Ash felt that the skills of a civil architect would be of little help to him, so he gave it to Fiora.
After all, he has already eaten three warlock manuals, and this is the first time that Sword Lady has encountered something she can eat, so it is reasonable for Sword Lady to have her turn.
In fact, the skills given in the magician's manual are rarely useful, such as "anti-reconnaissance", "secrets of pleasure (only effective for females over two meters)", "skinning mastery" - these are all boring tricks that do not improve the quality of life and will not add points if written into the resume, unless the interviewer is a big truck over two meters tall.
Sonia was absorbing the magician's manual for the first time, and she was visibly nervous: "By the way, what does the last sentence in the manual, 'I haven't cleaned up the collection at home', mean? Why did he care about the collection at home before he died?"
"Well, the explorer is an elderly single man after all, so he must have some hidden collections at home." Ash shrugged: "As the saying goes, I am not afraid of being torn to pieces, I want to keep my innocence in the world."
As she spoke, Sonia had already absorbed the magician's manual and was looking at Ash with a strange expression.
"What skills did you acquire? Drilling wood to make fire or surviving in the wild? Or a recipe for singles?"
"No, it's a very useful skill."
"What skills?"
"Eye Insight allows me to understand the other person's thoughts more easily through eye contact." Sonia said faintly, "It seems that because explorers meet a lot of different people when traveling, and they are old, they have experienced too many stories in their lives and have seen through too many people's hearts, so they naturally developed this skill."
Ash was so angry that he almost fell into the water.
This is the skill he needs to escape from prison!