Chapter 3

Kegan was drinking and chatting with Bantley, his mirror image, when he saw Henry looking around the door and called out to him loudly. Henry squeezed through the crowd in the hall, successfully avoiding a drunk lying on the ground and a waitress who tried to pat his bottom.

"Kid, you may be young, but you seem to be quite popular with the ladies. Right, Kegan?" The old gnome, Bantley, started teasing Henry in a very improper manner. "Of course, our handsome little Henry, when he was a child in the Merry Performers Inn in Beregost, he was passed around by the ladies." Kegan's mouth was already getting loose, and it was unclear how much he had drunk in just this short time.

Henry helplessly shook his head and greeted the gnome. "Hello, Mr. Bantley." "Come have a drink and something to eat. I've already rented a room for you. A single room costs 2 silver coins per day, so a week will be 14 silver coins. I paid with the earth goblin's money bag. Enjoy yourself." The dwarf finished the wine in his cup and shouted, "Another one for me!"

"Kegan, you should drink more slowly. Ale is to be savored for the sweetness in its bitterness." Bantley took the cup and refilled it. "To hell with you, old gnome. When you were young, you used to shout that you would set the whole world on fire with fireballs, a destructive maniac, impatient and irritable. Henry, you should be careful with this guy. He's not like ordinary gnomes. Most gnome mages are illusionists, but this guy is a 11th-level evoker." The dwarf revealed the gnome's old secrets to Henry.

Hearing this, Henry shuddered inwardly. An evoker, also known as an evocation specialist, could not learn enchantment or charm magic. In exchange, they could cast powerful burst damage spells like fireball, ice storm, lightning bolt, magic missile, and cloudkill, which had large areas and high damage. Due to the exclusion of enchantment, they had more spell slots than ordinary mages. Generally, such mages were more irritable and had poor patience. They were like mobile artillery, a very dangerous type of person.

The old gnome stroked his beard. "But now I'm old, hahaha, not as passionate as before. My mage level hasn't improved since I retired and opened this inn. By the way, young man, I heard you went to the temple earlier. You must have met my wife, Galana. What did you buy there?"

Henry counted and replied, "A bottle of magic potion, some blank scrolls, and a book on alchemy potions." There was no need to hide these things, so he told the truth. Bantley nodded. "It seems you are very interested in potion-making and copying scrolls. I can rent you my workshop for 1 gold coin for 7 days, unlimited use, in the room at the end of the third floor. How about it?" Henry was taken aback. "Oh? You actually have an alchemy workshop! That's great. Here's a gold coin, I'll go check it out right now." Bantley's words made him ecstatic, and he rushed up the stairs impatiently.

"Young people are so energetic, hahaha." The two old men looked at each other and laughed. Both dwarves and gnomes were long-lived races, though not as extreme as elves who could live for thousands of years, but living for a few hundred years was no problem.

Arriving at the workshop on the third floor, Henry quickly took out magic ink and blank scrolls and, following the system's prompt, began drawing magic symbols on the scroll. After drawing, he cast "hypnotism" on the scroll, and the magic light flashed, storing the spell in the scroll. After casting, the blank scroll became a magic scroll. According to the price of 1st-level spells and divine spells, this "hypnotism scroll" was worth 50 gold coins. It could be used by any mage, bard, or professionally trained thief. They just needed to use specific gestures to activate it, and non-professionals could not use it.

Henry also copied the divine spells "cure light wounds," "stone skin," and "entangle" that he hadn't used today. Similarly, divine spell scrolls could only be used by clerics, druids, and rangers.

Opening the book on common alchemy potions, he saw only a few recipes, including invisibility potion, cure light wounds potion, oil of speed, potion of reflection, hypnotism potion, antidote, potion of strength, and potion of freedom. Since potions required casting and a small amount of special solution, according to his current casting level, he could only make cure light wounds potion, potion of reflection, hypnotism potion, and potion of strength. Potions, with no class restrictions, could be used by anyone easily. Therefore, potions of the same effect were more than twice as expensive as scrolls. After reading the entire book, Henry felt that the road to saving money was long and arduous.

After tidying up the workshop, Henry returned to the hall to eat something and check if Kegan was drunk. The hall was particularly lively in the evening, with almost every resident of Friendly Arm trying to squeeze in some time to visit the inn at dusk, as they could find some entertainment in the crowd. A large cup of cheap ale for a few copper coins, listening to merchants and adventurers tell their stories, was both thrilling and exciting. Although most of it was exaggeration, it was one of the few forms of entertainment for commoners.

Bantley saw Henry come down and said, "Hey, Henry, what would you like to eat? We have a special dish, beef stew with potatoes and special spices, which tastes great." Henry bowed slightly. "Hello, Mr. Bantley. Where is Kegan?" The old gnome laughed. "Haha! You mean that old drunk? He's already passed out. I had someone carry him to his room, the second door on the left on the second floor." Henry sighed. "Alright, I'll have the special dish and two pieces of bread. You don't know how bad the food has been these past few days. Kegan's grilled fish didn't even have salt." As he spoke, Henry took out a gold coin from his pocket to pay.

"Kegan has already paid for your meals these past few days." The old gnome didn't take the gold coin and explained. Henry was taken aback. "Oh? Really, that's great. By the way, is there a place to buy alchemy plants and materials?" Bantley looked at him. "Alchemy materials? You should go to the market tomorrow morning and find a woman named Morian. She belongs to the Seven Suns Merchant Alliance and occasionally brings alchemy materials to Baldur's Gate to sell to the great mages."

Morian? Isn't that the female merchant Kegan introduced at noon? Henry suddenly remembered. He nodded at the old gnome, indicating that he understood. Soon, a large plate of special beef stew with potatoes and two pieces of bread was brought to him. His empty stomach immediately showed great excitement. The dish tasted good, the potatoes were very tender, and the unknown spices had a spicy flavor that stimulated the taste buds, making him sweat profusely.

After lunch, Henry learned that his room was next to Kegan's. He went to the second floor and checked on Kegan's room first. The dwarf warrior was snoring loudly on the bed, still holding the cup he had been drinking from at noon. He occasionally licked it and mumbled something incoherent. Since there was nothing wrong, Henry closed the door and went to his own room. It wasn't very large, with only a bed, a table, three chairs, and a wooden bucket filled with hot water for weary travelers to bathe. Henry quickly undressed and jumped into the bucket to bathe. After washing, he put on his clothes and dragged the bucket to the door, as the gnome owner had said that a staff member would come to take it away soon.

He lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling, lost in thought. It had been two days since he arrived in this world, and this was the first time he had settled down. Previously, he was either rushing on the road or fighting monsters, and he had no time to think deeply. What should he do in the future? Leveling up and earning gold was essential. Ideally, he should acquire a piece of land and become a noble, then settle his mother and sister. This way, he could travel and explore the world without any worries. As for becoming a god, that was out of the question. First, gods were semi-rule entities. Becoming a god, whether good, evil, or neutral, would immediately make you an enemy of a god of similar power, leading to eternal conflict. Moreover, you would become less like yourself, influenced by your followers. The Year of Wild Magic had just passed, and everyone still remembered how Emperor Ao cast the gods down to the mortal world.

As for land, most of the land around Baldur's Gate was already owned, but becoming a noble wasn't difficult. If he could raise his class level to 5 or higher and use 3rd-level divine and arcane spells, he could easily sell a large number of magic potions and scrolls to the Duke of Baldur's Gate to gain a title. After all, this was a city of merchants, and whoever could bring profit to everyone was a noble. As for land, the Wolf Island came to mind. In the game, players had the opportunity to sail. There was a small island south of Baldur's Gate, inhabited by a few hundred werewolves. Since it could provide enough food for hundreds of werewolves, the island must be quite large and suitable for farming. He remembered that there were fields in the game. Although he didn't know the exact location, he could use divination spells to find clues. As for the few hundred werewolves, they might be a problem for others, but for a well-prepared mage, it was relatively easy. Just bring some charm spells, like the 3rd-level spell "charm monster," to make them turn on each other. The virus in werewolf bites wasn't a concern; a smart mage wouldn't give the enemy any chance.

With these distant goals cleared from his mind, Henry silently opened the system interface and began preparing his spells for the next day.

1st-level spell: Grease. This spell creates a large area of slippery grease, making most monsters and people lose their footing. Especially for burrowing insects, which are hard and smooth, they would definitely slip and fall. Then, a Burning Hands spell would turn them into roasted insects.

1st-level divine spell: Cure Light Wounds (x3). Considering the potential for injury, he decided to copy more healing spell scrolls.

After preparing, Henry lay on the bed and silently prayed to nature, then slowly drifted off to sleep.

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