Chapter 35

Fang Yi accepted the task and found a place with higher ground to check the entrance. Despite being several hundred meters away, Fang Yi could still feel the scorching heat from the lava that rolled like mountains, and clearly see the red liquid rock slowly flowing out of the volcano.

A magnificent castle made of red giant stones stood between the volcano and the flowing lava. The top of the castle was even dozens of feet higher than the volcano's mouth, with a vividly carved devil's head fixed at the top, looking down at the lava lake. Only a stone bridge in front of the castle spanned the lava lake, connecting the castle to the rocks under Fang Yi's feet. Through the air that seemed to be boiling from the heat, the entire castle appeared to be twisting strangely.

After looking around, Fang Yi did not find any other entrances. The entire castle and the mountain were surrounded by the lava lake, and behind the castle was a towering mountain, which connected to the sky above—black rock. It was clear that there was no way behind.

To be safe, Fang Yi did not leave stealth mode. However, as soon as he stepped onto the unknown black stone bridge, he immediately felt a jolt, and his stealth mode failed.

System notification: You have stepped onto the Bridge of Black Fire, and will take 2 points of fire damage per second. After leaving the Bridge of Black Fire, you will continue to take 1 point of fire damage per second for 15 seconds.

Seeing the system notification, Fang Yi immediately sprinted forward as if his butt was on fire, crossing the nearly thousand-foot-long stone bridge in less than half a minute. Even so, the burning sensation in his feet and the loss of over fifty health points still made Fang Yi curse.

A tall, black door stood quietly at the end of the Bridge of Black Fire. The neatly stacked volcanic rocks were illuminated red by the lava lake's fire, appearing somewhat dim. At the bottom of the castle's pillars, two huge, eerie spiders were carved, and countless small spiders covered the entire wall, giving the impression of being swallowed by a swarm of spiders to those entering the door.

Fang Yi sat in the dark shadow at the entrance, drank a healing potion, and waited for the burning damage to disappear. Then he looked back at the empty Bridge of Black Fire and turned to advance into the castle. The other players, who were likely in the same team, might be experts in the beta test. Setting small traps would only waste time and have no real significance. The only thing to do now was to speed up.

The first-floor hall had five iron doors, each engraved with an alchemy bottle, a book, a monster, a sword, and a staff. Five choices—Fang Yi immediately eliminated the alchemy bottle and the book, which might be related to mages. The mages in the NPC world were all insane, and it was better to avoid them. Compared to humanoid creatures, Fang Yi preferred monsters with lower intelligence. He quickly made his choice and opened the iron door engraved with a monster.

The internal structure of the castle reminded Fang Yi of a wizard's tower on the surface, except the outer walls were at least ten times thicker. Following the winding stone stairs, Fang Yi soon arrived at the entrance of the sixth-floor room, the only passage on this floor.

There were no traps or ambushes, but Fang Yi was not relaxed. The journey up was too easy, without even a single guard. Abnormal situations often indicated danger, and Fang Yi felt quite uneasy.

Fang Yi voluntarily left stealth mode and, once the cooldown was over, gently pushed the heavy wooden door, his figure immediately disappearing into the air. (Unusual movements like opening doors would make stealth fail, so it was better to leave stealth mode in advance to have enough time to pass the cooldown period.)

Like the lower floors, there were no enemies, but the room seemed cleaner. The furnishings were all made of obsidian—stone tables, stone beds, and even stone bookshelves... Wait, bookshelves?

Fang Yi's attention was immediately drawn to the right side of the room, where a beautifully crafted stone bookshelf stood quietly behind a stone table, leaning against the corner of the wall—Fang Yi had thoroughly explored the lower five floors and did not remember such an object.

Fang Yi slowly approached the bookshelf, which held many heavy books, most of whose covers were engraved with strange and terrifying beasts. Fang Yi also noticed that most of the books were placed at the bottom of the bookshelf, close to the stone table.

The stone table was also tidy, with an open book placed behind a stack of papyrus. Seeing this, Fang Yi's pupils contracted, and he immediately retreated. A wave of magic auras instantly erupted from where he had been standing. Fang Yi didn't care about the failure of his stealth mode and quickly jumped back to the wall, narrowly avoiding the range of the magic.

System notification: You have been affected by the Detect Thoughts spell.

Knock spell failed to attack you.

"Huh?" With a surprised sound, Fang Yi dodged the first wave of spells. Sweating cold, Fang Yi followed the sound and immediately saw a slender figure hiding at the right front door. The firelight from the window clearly showed it was a drow mage.

"He's in!" Among the group, the monk had the highest perception. As the thief's slightly panicked figure appeared on the only passage over the lava lake, the group, including Qiu Daoyu, heard the monk's warning.

"Let him go in first," Qiu Daoyu remained calm, "to avoid him causing trouble behind us. He's alone and won't be as fast as us."

The other members of the group followed Qiu Daoyu's orders. After the thief's figure disappeared into the dark entrance, they waited for two minutes before stepping out of their hiding place and following the thief's footsteps. Unlike the thief, the four-person team was not as flustered: the temperature of the Bridge of Black Fire was not too high, and with the protection of the mage's fire resistance, they only occasionally took less than 1 point of fire damage, quickly reaching the castle's hall.

Similarly, facing the five choices, Qiu Daoyu also first chose the iron door engraved with a monster, but the system notification indicated that the action was invalid. He then chose the door engraved with a sword: after all, the drow priests of the Underdark were notorious, and a straightforward battle was more enjoyable.

Unlike Fang Yi, the group only ascended two floors before encountering their enemies in a spacious hall: a tall humanoid figure stood on the path to the next floor, silently watching them. The full-body black armor made it impossible to distinguish his face or race, but the five-foot-long two-handed sword in his half-gripped hand was not a sign of friendliness.

The information from the detect spell was limited, only confirming that the opponent was a 14th-level hostile creature. Without much time to think, Qiu Daoyu issued several commands in the team channel and cast the druid's polymorph spell, entering stealth mode.

Chasing the wind, the berserker had been carrying the shield all the way, and was already frustrated. Seeing the captain's order, he immediately accelerated, using the shield to protect his left side and swinging his battle axe at the motionless black-armored warrior.

Fang Yi knew he couldn't get too far from the spellcaster and was about to rush over, but saw the dark elf's hands move, casting another spell, "Oilslick!"

System notification: You have been affected by the Oilslick spell.

Just as he crouched down, Fang Yi felt his feet slip, almost losing his balance. Thanks to the thief's agility, Fang Yi quickly changed his plan, using his feet to push off the stone wall and launching himself like an arrow towards the spellcaster at the door.

In a few seconds, Fang Yi had crossed the distance, but the dark elf remained motionless, his crimson eyes fixed on Fang Yi, a cold smile on his face. Fang Yi knew something was wrong and flipped in mid-air, changing his direction to narrowly avoid the dark elf. At the same time, a familiar voice came from the opposite wooden door, "Stone to Mud!"

Fang Yi immediately turned, not rushing towards the source of the voice but quickly scanning the room and then charging towards the shadow hidden next to the bookshelf, using the detect spell to lead the way:

Race: Drow Elf

Class: 14th-level Mage

Name: ???

???

What the heck, mirror image and ventriloquism, how can a low-level mage use these so well? Is there no justice in the world?

At this moment, Fang Yi didn't need to turn around to guess that the dark elf standing confidently in the orange firelight was just a mirror image, and the ground beneath it had likely turned into a deadly mud trap. The direction from which the "Stone to Mud" spell was loudly read was empty, and the real spellcaster was standing next to the bookshelf!

The drow mage was somewhat surprised that the thief didn't fall for the trap, but his cold smile didn't waver. His obsidian-like fingers quickly made several complex gestures, and his tightly pursed lips clearly pronounced, "Prismatic Spray!"

Although Fang Yi didn't understand what the dark elf was saying, the colorful light spots in front of him immediately revealed the spell. The damage from Prismatic Spray was low, but it was a ranged spell with a stunning effect. Fang Yi quickly realized the mage's plan: he had to dodge the spell, but dodging horizontally would give the mage time to prepare the next spell.

The mage's level was not high, as evident from the spells he cast. Fang Yi made his decision in an instant, suddenly changing direction to the right, dodging the spell's range, and now only fifteen feet away!

This time, Fang Yi didn't move around but charged straight at the enemy. The thief's decisive attack and lightning speed made the dark elf nervous for the first time, but he still quickly took out a small bottle containing double the spell's worth of spider webs.

The dark elf's right hand continued to cast the spell quickly and correctly. As he completed the "Web" spell, a small ball of white spider silk formed at his left fingertips and instantly turned into a dense web, enveloping the charging thief—victory was certain in the dark elf's red eyes.

The 9-foot spell range was impossible to avoid, and Fang Yi's lightning-fast figure suddenly stopped just three feet from the dark elf. He was completely wrapped in the tough white spider silk, only his head exposed.

"Stupid human," the dark elf's smooth, marble-like face showed a new expression, a cold smile replaced by a sneer, revealing dazzling white teeth that made Fang Yi wonder what toothpaste he used.

The dark elf relaxed his shoulders, his smooth fingers moving, "I, Gandal Kenaf, will grant you, this rash intruder, a death. Do you prefer the taste of burning flesh or the cold, hard feel?"

Despite his words, the flickering firelight in Gandal Kenaf's hand indicated he had already made his decision. The triangular area between his index finger and thumb was filled with magical energy, and the sparks made Gandal increasingly excited. This was the power of magic! Just one more day, one more day! The great and invaluable treasures in this castle will be mine alone, and I, Gandal Kenaf, will crush the treacherous Gondur Bane and become the true chief mage of Menzoberranzan!

Looking at the thief trapped in the spider web, Gandal sneered again, raising his right hand and speaking with pride, "You are not weak, but you are too slow!"

"You are faster..." the trapped thief muttered. Gandal took it as the last words of a dying man, but the next moment, his narrow eyes widened to an impossible degree.

The thief, about to die from his spell, suddenly broke free from the spider web. Almost simultaneously, two silver flashes appeared in front of the dark elf, filling his entire field of vision. The drow mage saw his own dark reflection in the scimitar.

Time rewound to a few seconds earlier—after the Prismatic Spray, the expected control spell. Fang Yi prepared to counterattack while trapped in the spider web. Unexpectedly, the arrogant drow mage didn't retreat but stood there, reading a spell. Fang Yi patiently listened to the dark elf's rambling, waiting for the moment just before the spell was completed to activate the light bracelet and the escape skill, successfully breaking free from the Web spell.

At such close range, the dark elf had no time to cast another spell. Fang Yi's left hand thrust forward, the sharp dagger aiming for the dark elf's abdomen. A strong force came from his wrist, deflecting the dagger to the side—indeed, there was a protection spell, but was a deflection field really effective?

At this moment, a glimmer of hope reappeared in Gandal's terrified eyes, and his tightly pursed lips slightly opened, as if to cast a spell. However, the system determined that the deflection field disappeared after blocking one attack, and a streak of blade light flashed. Fang Yi, holding the scimitar, saw the dark elf's mouth open in vain, only the wound in his throat making a "hissing" sound, and softly said, "Is my blade faster?" It took only two strikes, plus the backlash damage from the failed spell (when a spellcaster is interrupted by external forces, the spell backfires, causing damage based on the spell's level), to end the life of the physically weak dark elf mage, sending him back to the Queen of Spiders.

Fang Yi retrieved a cloak and a key-like object from the corpse, then sat on the ground and drank a mana potion, waiting for his mana to recover to normal levels while using the identify spell on the cloak.

The key's attributes were straightforward: "Mysterious Key, a key to open a certain teleportation portal (part)," likely a special item for this scene.

Fang Yi didn't know what to say about encountering a mage in the five choices. The strength of this guardian mage was somewhat unexpected, likely due to the system refreshing a character with some combat experience. Since the game's official launch, this was the most dangerous opponent he had encountered.

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