The party members looked at each other, not quite sure where to go from here. But luckily the master shipbuilder wasn't done yet.
He looked at the people before him with a thoughtful gaze. Eventually he decided to speak up:
"Maybe I can still do something for you."
Silver Blade's sighed in relief. Luckily the quest didn't hit a dead end.
"Please tell us, master."
"Go over there and bring me the chest at the top. The blue one."
The party appeared puzzled but Bloody Edge reacted quickly and did as he was told.
He lifted the chest, which had a surprisingly low weight, and put it on the desk. Dust spread, itching his throat.
But Master Eronson didn't care. He opened the chest, rummaged through it and pulled out an old-looking scroll.
"These are the blueprints from my private collection. I drew most of them in my spare time. They aren't as exquisite as those military-grade blueprints, but they do their job.
However, most of them have the advantage of being easier to use."
The master unfurled the scroll in his hand while talking.
"Even a beginner would be able to transfer this one."
Eronson threw a meaningful glance at the party. It took them a few moments to understand but eventually their eyes lit up.
"Can we learn a new skill here?", asked Final Fend with anticipation.
"Looks like it."
"What is it?"
"Let me do it."
Everyone appeared eager, subtly approaching the shipbuilder master. The dwarf swiped his eyes over the group. His expression didn't appear particularly happy, even when stopping on Silver Blade.
"You, adventurer. Do you want to learn the [Transfer] skill?"
"Hey, why her?", complained Final Fend.
"I'm sure it's that charisma stat again."
"We need to ask Mirage how to improve our charm!", concluded Fortune.
Silver Blade was surprised as well but felt that the other's made sense. If Liam were here, he'd be able to explain that it wasn't about the charisma attribute this time. Rather it was Eronson preferring the female tank because of her knowledge stat.
But the result was the same. The master watched as Silver Blade nodded calmly. He took out a piece of wood from a drawer. Obvious fluctuations of mana played around it.
"The [Transfer] auxiliary skill allows you to transfer magic circles on suitable materials. Watch, I will only demonstrate once."
Done explaining, Eronson placed the wood on the desk, putting the scroll on top of it. He pressed his hand against it, closed his eyes and mumbled some incomprehensible words.
Suddenly the scroll disintegrated as if aging hundreds of years, turning to dust. Only the piece of wood remained, with a simple magic circle shining on top of it.
"Did you see it clearly? Now it's your turn."
The master turned his palm towards the chest on the desk, signaling Silver Blade to take a scroll.
Although she couldn't learn much from a single demonstration, Silver Blade took a scroll and another piece of wood handed over by Eronson.
Placing them on top of each other, the [Transfer] auxiliary skill suddenly appeared in her character panel. A simple thought was enough to activate it. A progress bar appeared, filling quickly.
Without needing to perform any incantations the magic circle got transferred and the scroll disappeared.
Eronson's eyes lit up. He stroked his thick beard, speaking happily:
"A natural talent. Good job, good job."
The other party members rolled their eyes. Every player could've done the same. It was just that the NPC favored Silver Blade unfairly.
No! I need to ask Liam for the charisma stat…
Silver Blade didn't know her brother's thoughts, glancing at the notification in front of her eyes.
[You learned the auxiliary skill Transfer – Lvl. 1]
"Now that you learned the [Transfer] skill, you can help Huber."
"Thank you very much, master."
Silver Blade voice was extremely polite, but a hint of delight couldn't be suppressed. So far, she heard no one mention a [Transfer] skill. It was obviously pretty rare.
Did he expect this to happen…?
Liam's face wearing a confident grin flashed in Silver Blade's mind. His detailed knowledge remained a mystery to the party.
She shook her head realizing another problem.
"Master, could you sell me some blueprints?"
"Help yourself to these scrolls here. They aren't that precious. And please put it back before you leave."
Eronson waved his hand dismissively, going back to his own work.
Silver Blade thanked the master for his generosity before taking a closer look at the chest. She quickly noticed that it only contained one kind of scroll.
Taking out the three remaining pieces, Silver Blade was just about to go when she noticed a small booklet at the bottom of the chest. Its cover looked weathered by time, but the title was still readable.
Tales of Deavin Ocean…
Silver Blade's eyes lit up recognizing the book for what it was, a lorebook. Noticing no reaction from Eronson she took out it of the chest and quickly let it vanish in her inventory.
"Are we done here?", asked Fortune with a last glance around the room.
"I think so."
"I'm curious though, where this door leads to.", added Braag, continuing with a whisper: "Should I bribe that soldier?"
Suddenly the dwarf felt a chill run down his back. He glanced towards the door, finding two angry eyes fixed on him.
"Such sharp ears…"
Silver Blade noticed the movement as well. She hastily pushed the party out.
"Let's not get into trouble guys. This door should lead to the shipyard. Obviously, they don't want us to go there."
The others felt compelled to agree while the soldier's stern gaze was still focused on them.
With the blueprint in hand the party could finally clear the quest. They quickly returned to Captain Huber.
Stepping on the pier they were surprised to see an entirely new ship. Only a few differently colored wooden planks told about the previous damage. Captain Huber's men had done a great work.
And the captain himself was in a visibly better mood as the party approached even though his speech still sounded rough.
"Adventurers. Are you done?"
"Captain, we got the blueprint. I can transfer it at any time."
"Almost forgot the transfer… Go ahead!"
Silver Blade followed the changing quest, boarding the ship. It was a smaller vessel manned by about a dozen sailors and the captain.
The quest led Silver Blade towards the single lower deck. A certain spot shone brightly. Some remains of a magic circle could still be made out.
Silver Blade took out one of the scrolls, using her newly learned [Transfer] skill. After a few seconds a new magic circle graced the ship.
A white shimmer ran along the wooden surface. Mana was stirred up, coating the exterior.
A moment later everything returned to silence as if it was only an illusion. But the wooden ship felt vaguely different.
"Good job."
Captain Huber appeared on the lower deck, praising the party. A notification popped up.
[
[Evaluation: C]
[Receive 550EXP]
[Receive Captain's hat]
[Captain Huber can now be asked to ferry you across Deavin Ocean]
[As good as new. Maybe even better!]
"Finally. Now we can do the real quest.", joked Fortune.
"It's not that bad. We now have our personal driver."
The others nodded upon hearing Balm say that. Sooner or later everyone who wanted to explore Deavin Ocean would have to clear this or similar quests.
"So, are we leaving now?", asked Final Fend with an eager voice.
Silver Blade thought about it for a moment.
"I think we've got everything. Anyone want to stock up on consumables?"
This question was mostly directed at Final Fend and Braag. The rest of the party already went shopping before leaving for the harbor.
But the two shook their heads, as did the others.
"Alright then. Let's leave for Rod'or Island!"
While the party was talking, Huber already returned to the upper deck. The party happily followed him.
When Silver Blade talked to the captain, a list with possible destinations was revealed. It was rather sparse, consisting of a few larger nephilim cities and places the player had heard about.
Naturally, Red'or Island was among them. Setting their destination, the party watched eagerly as movement came into the ship.
Captain Huber shouted his orders. Ropes were untied at the pier. The sailors ran around, making last-minute preparations.
At some point two smaller boats appeared, starting to drag the ship out of the bay. The smell of fresh seawater filled the air. Waves brandished against the ship's hull, rocking it gently as the vessel slowly left the harbor.
The party watched with bright eyes as the ship slowly left the area protected by Saltae. An enormous ocean opened in their view. The many islands in the ocean could be made out as black dots.
A jolt went through the ship. With a thud, the large sail was opened wide. The assistant boats returned to the harbor. And the ship was finally sailing on the open sea.
Captain Huber stood at the bow of the ship, an incredibly clear expression on his face. He shouted with a voice sounding like a bird escaping its cage:
"Full speed ahead! Destination: Red'or Island!"