Several days passed in the blink of an eye, the giant ship floated on the sea but did not set sail; it was waiting for the arrival of the rest of the wooden boats that were recruiting students.
Three days later, two more wooden boats met up with the giant ship, each boat carrying about dozens of students.
Eventually, the giant ship gathered four official wizards, several wizard apprentices, nearly two hundred students, and an unknown number of sailors, and then set sail for a long journey.
The four wizards came from the three wooden boats used to recruit students. Siv was among them, responsible for recruiting students along the Jade River. The other two wooden boats were responsible for recruiting students from two other major rivers on Smans Island, and the last wizard had always been on the giant ship, purportedly the most powerful.
The four wizards usually did not show themselves. Apart from having contact with Siv, Richard had not even seen the other wizards.
