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To the west of Jok Island, between the two continental blocks of Housk Island and Ansmore Island, there is the "Ninety Island". （) （.

. m) Of the 90 islands, the closest to Joker Island is Sede Island; The farthest is the Diagonal Ruins, almost in the middle of the Peni Sea. Whether the total number of 90 islands is 90 is always an uncertain question. Because, if you count only the islands with freshwater springs, there are about seventy, and if you count each rock, I am afraid that before you can count a hundred, the tide will turn tide. In this area, the straits between the islands are very narrow, and the mild tides of the Inner Polar Sea rise high and low as long as they are disturbed and stagnant. So when the waves are high, there may be three small islands somewhere, but when the waves are low, they may be combined into one. But in spite of the dangerous waves, every child was able to paddle and have his own boat, and housewives often crossed the strait to meet their neighbours for a cup of tea, and the hawkers called for their wares and used their oars to beat their rhythms

。 The roads there are all saltwater sea routes, which are quite accessible, and the only thing that can block the access is the fish. Most of the local fish cross the strait, from the house in a small island to the house in the neighboring island, which is specially used to catch a small fish called "squid", the fish oil of this small fish is the wealth of Jiuyu Island. There are few bridges, there are no big towns, and each island is crowded with farmhouses and fish houses. The two industries of agriculture and fish are gathered to form a township, and about 10 to 20 small islands form a township. The westernmost of them is called "Shimotonin", and it faces not the polar sea, but the outer open ocean. The vast expanse of the ocean can be described as a lonely corner of the archipelago, and the only isolated island in the sea is the island of Pando, which is raided by dragons. After Pando Island, it is the uninhabited western waters.

Houses for new wizards have been prepared. The neem house was isolated on a hill, surrounded by green barley fields, and to the west was guarded by a pandico forest to block the west wind, and the branches were blooming with red flowers. Standing at the door of the house, you can see the roofs of the other huts on the island, the woods and gardens, and the roofs of the houses, the farmlands, and the hills of the other islands, and in the middle of them are many bright and winding channels. The wizard's quarters were dilapidated houses with no windows and only dirt floors, but they were still better than the house where Ged was born. The islanders of Lower Tonin stood respectfully before the Rouk wizard and begged him to forgive the simplicity of the house. One of them said: "We don't have stones to build a house. Another said: "No one among us is rich, but no one is hungry." The third said, "This house is at least as clean as it can be lived, sir, for I have laid the thatched roof with my own hands." "In Gede's opinion, the house is as good as a palace. He thanked the islanders frankly before the eighteen departed. They each rowed back to their island in a small boat, and told their neighbors that the new wizard was a strange and serious young man, who did not talk much, but was honest in his words, and had no arrogance.

Perhaps Ged didn't have much reason to be proud of his first time as a wizard. Wizards trained by the Rouk Academy usually lived in cities or castles to serve their lords. And those lords naturally settled the wizard in the mansion. According to the custom, it was enough for the fishermen to hire ordinary witches or alms, recite incantations to protect the fish, chant the new boat, and treat sick animals and people. But in recent years, the old dragon of Pando Island has given birth to an heir, and it is said that even the old dragon combined, a total of nine dragons lurk in the dilapidated Pando Haiye Tower, and the scaly belly is dragged between the marble staircase and the ruined corridor from time to time. The dead island lacked food, and the small dragons flew away from the island when they felt hungry and tried to get rid of it. Four small dragons were reportedly seen flying over the southwestern coast of Housk Island, and instead of perching, they spied into the sheep barn, barn and village. Dragon's hunger is slow to awaken, but hard to satisfy. Therefore, the islanders of Shiretonin sent a man to the Rok Academy, begging a wizard to come to the island to protect the inhabitants from the behemoths that were writhing in the Western Regions. ** The division judged at the time that the islanders' fears were not unfounded.

"There's no comfort there," the master said to him on the day he was promoted to a wizard, "no fame, no wealth, and probably no danger." Would you like to go? ”

"I'm willing to go." Gerd's answer was not entirely obedient. Since the night of the round hill, he has changed a lot, and he is no longer supported by the ** who used to sell his reputation and reputation. Nowadays, he is always doubting his strength and afraid to test his strength. Moreover, the rumors of the dragon also made him curious. It has been hundreds of years since there have been dragons on the island of Bowte, and it is unlikely that any dragon will fly within the range of the scent, appearance, or spell of the Rouk. Therefore, in the island of Jok, dragons are just things in stories and songs, to be sung, and it is not a matter of seeing them with their own eyes. Gede had studied everything about dragons as much as he could in the academy. However, it is one thing to read about dragons, and quite another to face them. Now, with the opportunity in front of him, he replied with great interest: "I am willing to go." ”

Geng Se** nodded, but his eyes were very melancholy. "Tell me," he said after a while, "are you afraid to leave the island of Jok?" Or are you itching to leave? ”

"Both."

Genser nodded again. "I don't know if it's right to send you away safely," he said slowly. "I don't see your future, I see darkness. And there is a force in the north that may destroy you. But what it is and where it is, on your way in the past or in the future, I can't tell, because I see only shadows covering it. When the men of Lower Tonin came, I immediately thought of you, for it seemed like a safe place beyond the road, and perhaps you could recharge your batteries there. But I really don't know where you're safe, and I don't know where your future holds. I don't want to send you into the dark ......"

At first, Gede thought that the house seemed to be a bright place under the blossoming trees

。 He stayed and watched the western sky often, stretching the wizard's ears at all times, keeping an eye out for the sound of the wings flapping. But no dragon came. Gede fishes on his own seawall and grows flowers and grass in his garden. In the summer, he sat outside under the Pandico tree, flipping through the folklore brought from the Jocco Academy, and spent his days pondering a page, a line, or a word. Either he slept beside him or hunted rats in the woods full of grass and daisies. He was always at the service of the islanders, and was the all-round physician and weather master of the islanders. He didn't think that it might be a shame for a wizard to play such a small trick of carving insects, because he himself was a witch boy when he was a child, and the villagers he served were poorer than the people of Lower Toning Islander. However, the islanders of Lower Tonin rarely asked Gede to do anything, and they were in awe of Ged, partly because he was a wizard from the Isle of the Wise, and partly because of his silence and his scarred eyelids. Because of his position, even if he is as young as Gede, it always makes people uncomfortable with him.

However, Ged made a friend, a shipwright, who lived on a neighboring island to the east and named Peviri. They had met at the seawall, when Ged stopped to see him trampling on the mast of a small boat, and he had already raised his eyes to look at the wizard and grinned, "A month's work is almost finished." If you do it, I guess you can just say a mantra for a minute, right, sir? ”

"Probably," said Gott, "but, unless I keep holding the spell, I might sink to the bottom of the ocean in the next minute." But if you want to ......," he didn't finish.

"Why, sir?"

"Well, the boat is pretty well built, and it really doesn't need anything more. However, if you like, I can perform a binding spell to keep her safe and secure, or a search spell to help her return home safely when she returns from the sea. ”

Ged didn't want to hurt the shipbuilder's feelings, so he was a little reluctant to speak, but Pei Weirui's face was bright.

"Sir, this boat was made for my son, and if you would give him a spell, it would be a great virtue."

As he spoke, he climbed up the embankment, took Gede's hand, and thanked him solemnly.

Since then, they have often worked together. When building a ship or repairing a ship, Verry is in charge of the handiwork; In addition to providing spell skills, Gede also learned how to build a ship and how to sail a ship without relying on spells, because the skill of sailing a boat purely by sail is almost extinct on the island of Jok. From time to time, Ged and his youngest son, Ios, often sailed between the strait and the lagoon in different boats, and later became not only a skilled boatman, but also his friendship with Peverry.

In the autumn, the shipwright's son fell ill, and the child's mother hired a witch who was good at medicine on the island of Thesk, and the situation seemed to improve for a day or two. But then, in the middle of the night during a storm, Peverey came and knocked on the door of Gerd's room, begging him to save his son. Ged ran to the boat with him, and rowed to the boatman's house in the dark night rain. Gede saw the child lying on the grass, the mother squatting on the edge of the grass, and the witch burning the grass roots while singing the Negi Song, which was also her best remedy. But she whispered to Gede, "Master Wizard, it seems to me that this child is red-hot, and he won't survive tonight." ”

Gede knelt down, put his hands on the child, and came to the same conclusion, and his body couldn't help but step back. In the last months of his own serious illness, the herbalist taught him many folk remedies, regardless of the depth of the remedies, the principle was the same: wounds can be cured, diseases can be cured, and the dying soul can only be left to it.

The mother, who saw this, stepped back, understood the meaning, and immediately cried out in despair. Pei Weirui bent down beside her and said, "Madam, Lord Sparrowhawk will save him, don't cry!" Since he came, he had a way. ”

Hearing the mother's sorrows, and seeing the father's trust in him, he couldn't bear to let them down. He overturned his judgment and thought that if the heat could be brought down, perhaps the child would be saved. He said, "Peviry, I'll do my best." ”