Chapter 69

But what caught Fang Yi's attention was not the dwarf lying down, but the short sword clasped in the dwarf's hands. The short sword had an ancient and simple design, with faint lightning dancing across it. A strong magical light radiated from the short sword, only to be contained by a circular barrier, which also kept Fang Yi outside.

The entire rear hall contained nothing else. Fang Yi thought to himself that he had finally found the main attraction. As soon as he saw the stone platform, the task list marked the dwarf's companion—Past—as completed. Fang Yi tried to poke the barrier with his weapon and received a prompt saying, "The target is invincible"...

Regardless of whether it was truly invincible, the only thing worth paying attention to in this temple was the dwarf lying inside the barrier.

Fang Yi walked around the barrier a few times, carefully observing it, and took photos of the surroundings using the in-game camera. This place was probably one of a kind in all of Faerun, and it was worth documenting.

After a long time, Fang Yi determined that there were no more clues here. He turned and glanced at the lifeless, gray-white city of Kantor, then stepped onto the teleportation array in the temple.

"You said the underground city is called Kantor!?" Harold, holding the badge dropped by the Dwarf Defender, his dark yellow face flushed red, shouted at Fang Yi.

Fang Yi, who was ready to settle accounts with this tall-talking dwarf, was instead startled by the other party. This time, for the sake of the task, he thought and replied, "It's called Kantor, and the Temple of Moradin is right in the center of the city."

Hearing Fang Yi's affirmative answer, Harold took a few deep breaths and calmed down, muttering to himself, "Kantor, Kantor..." After a while, he recovered from his emotional state and said, "Fang, are you willing to help me with something?"

Fang Yi quickly said, "Willing, willing," I came here to take on tasks, didn't I?

"If that is really the underground kingdom of Kantor, the one lying there must be the legendary dwarf, Kantor Tharshield." Harold's eyes regained their luster as he said with certainty, "And I cannot break the barrier set by a legendary figure, and you... clearly can't either. We need to find a way to break the barrier to understand the true history of Kantor."

System prompt: Do you accept the task, Son of Thunder—Echoes of the Legend?

Fang Yi accepted the task. The only hint in the adventure log was to find a way to break the Barrier of the Mind's Light.

This is even more bizarre than the Heart of Holy Light task, which at least gave a hint to go to the West Gate. What's going on here? Fang Yi had many questions and quickly asked, "Why do dwarves care so much about Kantor? And I know nothing about this barrier, where should I go to find out?"

By this time, Harold had already returned to his usual half-dead state and lazily replied, "This requires knowledge, not brute force. Do you understand knowledge? Humans are always so impatient. Go to Candlekeep..." Seeing Fang Yi's face turn somewhat pale, Harold quickly corrected himself, "It might be a bit far. I heard there's a large library in the West Gate, a common property of the nobles. As long as you're willing to pay..."

Fang Yi pouted as he walked out of Harold's small house, thinking, Why are you being so pretentious? Just say you don't know. Needing knowledge... Fang Yi sighed; he hated search tasks the most.

The Astorian Thieves' Guild in Farview Town was as dark and gloomy as ever, but today it was even more so. When Fang Yi entered the hall, he didn't see a single NPC, only some players wandering around looking for hidden quests.

The place where new thieves learned skills had been moved to the other end of town, the Night Mask Guild, which Fang Yi had heard from the old dwarf. Players didn't care whether they learned skills from the Axe Gang or the Red Light District, but Fang Yi did: if the Astorian base was taken out, and this place was empty, where would he go to turn in the "Thief's Step" task?

The wooden stairs creaked loudly, as if they might collapse under the weight of the thief at any moment. Fang Yi slowly climbed to the second floor and敏锐地发现楼上的房间中有动静——Fang Yi knew this triggered the task scenario.

"Captain Hope, you... how could you!?" In Hope's office, the former guild receptionist clutched a fatal wound in her abdomen, her face full of terror as she looked at the grinning captain of the Thieves' Guild, her cute freckles trembling with fear.

"Dear little princess, your father dared to defy the will of the King of the Night, refusing to place the guild under the jurisdiction of the Night Mask. We had no choice but to take such unfriendly measures," Hope twirled the dagger in his hand, approaching the human girl who had fallen to the ground, "It's your father's fault for uncovering our infiltration plan, forcing us to act so soon!"

Hope raised his blood-soaked dagger high, ready to stab the girl's pale neck. At that moment, the experienced captain of the Thieves' Guild suddenly felt a chill behind him. His skin tightened with the sudden sense of danger, and his upper body instinctively leaned forward to avoid the attack from behind.

But the attacker was even faster. A bright blade with a faint blue glow lightly sliced through Hope's tight leather armor, cutting through the muscles that were tensed to prevent the blade from entering, and accurately pierced the captain's kidney from the lower back.

No stun effect! This guy reacted too quickly, already on guard in an instant. Fang Yi, who had revealed himself, remained calm, his dual blades striking left and right. A series of crisp metal clashes successfully forced the now passive Captain Hope into a corner.

"You!" Hope turned and saw the thief who had stabbed him in the left kidney, instantly recognizing this former underling. "You're still alive!"

"Thanks to you, I'm doing pretty well~" Fang Yi moved slightly, subtly protecting the injured human girl behind him, then said with a smile, "But Captain Hope, you should have told me you were changing sides. You made Karl go through all the trouble to prepare a welcome ceremony for me."

By this time, Hope had already noticed the gleaming weapons, especially the dagger in the left hand, which were not ordinary items. His eyes glinted with greed. But the former little thief was no longer the same, his fingers gripping the dagger turning slightly pale from the force.

Fang Yi had already used the Detect skill to get the information on his opponent: Level 14 Elite, profession thief, skilled in dagger assassination. Fang Yi's dual blades hung low, and he watched Hope, who was slightly hunched, with a calm demeanor. He couldn't help but feel a bit nostalgic. A few days ago, this opponent was an insurmountable mountain before him. Now... you are the fish, and I am the butcher!

In the next moment, both sides suddenly launched, a black and a gray figure instantly colliding, the sound of weapons clashing ringing out.