Chapter 73

Fang Yi and Jim waited for over an hour at the Temple of Tyr until dusk, when the fully armored elven holy knight Somanthus finally returned from outside the city.

"Is the Mask of the Night also paying attention to the ore matter?" Somanthus turned to look at Jim, frowning as he asked.

Being able to see the idol of all the holy knights of Tyr, Jim's excitement had yet to subside. "Y-Yes, I heard their conversation, and it is indeed so."

Somanthus' wise gaze swept over the two people before him, then he smiled at Jim and said, "Your bravery is enough to make you a model for the holy knights in the temple. Go rest first, and come back tomorrow. After the holy light assessment, come to the temple to be my guard knight."

Jim looked at Somanthus in disbelief, and only after Fang Yi nudged his arm did he manage to give a silly laugh, turn, and walk out of the room, looking dazed and disoriented.

"Then, Fang, I can't let you off without a task this time," Somanthus said seriously. "The Mask of the Night may not be as powerful as the Red Robe Mages' Guild, but over a thousand assassins and corrupt nobles are still a big problem. I don't care what ore they are looking for; go investigate at the West Gate. I'm waiting for your report."

Fang Yi bid farewell to the elven holy knight and stepped out of the Temple of Tyr. At this point, Fang Yi was clear that the "Thief's Footsteps" quest was essentially over, but the difficulty of "Heart of the Holy Light" had increased— even if the difficulty hadn't changed, it had at least become more troublesome. Twisting the emerald ring on his ring finger, Fang Yi arrived at the auction house in Thayshire.

Jenna's ring came with two scroll slots, making it a top-tier fine item. Equipment with scroll slots not only saved time when taking scrolls out of the backpack but also significantly reduced casting time based on the quality of the equipment.

The conditions for using scroll slots were very simple: having a scroll, the required level, and mana points. Compared to the spell slots of a firestone staff, each had its advantages and disadvantages, but for a thief, the ring was clearly more suitable.

Magic scrolls needed to be written by spellcasters of the corresponding level. The cost of a level 0 magic scroll was about one gold coin, a level 1 magic scroll three gold coins, and for a level 2 magic scroll, Fang Yi estimated it would be at least ten gold coins or more. The higher the spell level, the higher the chance of failure and the more expensive the materials required.

Writing scrolls was also a core skill of enchanters, but the levels of player crafters were generally low, so most of the magic scrolls in the auction house, which cost five to six gold coins each, were written by mages.

Fang Yi browsed through the magic scroll menu in the auction house and spent over 20 gold coins to buy three level 0 and three level 1 spell scrolls. Occasionally, rare equipment would appear in the auction house, but the exorbitant prices meant they were only for those gold warriors. For a professional player like Fang Yi, the cost-effectiveness was too low.

*Note: In "Miracle," all classes can write scrolls (blank scrolls are made by enchanters or sold in stores), but only mages consider writing scrolls a core skill.

Writing scrolls involves copying spells onto blank scrolls, and the spells on the scrolls do not count toward the daily spell limit. In contrast, mages have a unique "spellbook" item that allows them to copy spells from scrolls into their spellbook (at a cost of experience, money, and time). At the start of each day, mages can choose several spells from their spellbook to memorize for the day's adventures.

Other spellcasting classes do not have their own spellbooks; they can learn spells as long as they meet the level and primary attribute requirements and can choose which spells to cast on the fly without pre-selection (still subject to spell slot limits). However, the number and variety of spells they can learn are limited by their specialization.

Obviously, compared to other spellcasting classes, mages have a more difficult and cumbersome process for learning and casting spells, but they can learn a much greater number and variety of spells.

***

The orange sunset was almost completely gone, and half the world in view was already bathed in a brilliant red. The fiery evening sky and the vast plain seemed to merge into one. The station outside Thayshire was extremely quiet, with a few tall and handsome horses leisurely strolling in the stables under the sunset, indicating that not many people were planning to travel at night.

The adventure log did not provide any new quest prompts, but a few more lines had been added to the "Heart of the Holy Light" content, likely merging with the follow-up to "Thief's Footsteps." Fang Yi squinted at the sun about to set and climbed into a tall carriage pulled by two hired horses.

Time waits for no one. The thief player named Wu Gou Bai, whom Fang Yi met in the underground secret cave, had given him a heads-up. It was clear that other players were still working on related quests, whether it was the Mask of the Night or the Red Robe Mages' Guild, they were not friends but enemies. Fang Yi now had two quests involving ore, and neither was a regular quest. He felt a sense of crisis and knew he had to act quickly.

With a quest to complete, Fang Yi had to rush to the West Gate and had no time to worry about the Japanese player. However, before leaving, Fang Yi had already sent the address of the player's shop to Qi Teng Tian Xia, asking him to keep an eye on it. Given the reputation of the Tian Xia Ba Ye guild, they would likely "take care" of the Japanese player as the local power.

The moon in Faerun is called Selûne, named after a deity. Compared to the real world, the moon in the night sky, with the added beauty of Selûne's Tears, is exceptionally beautiful. Fang Yi looked out the window at the moonlight and the Dragon Lake, which had a unique charm under the moonlight, but he knew that the calm appearance of Faerun's night hid countless deadly dangers.

Players can log out while in a carriage, and when they log back in the next day, their character will have already reached the destination—of course, they might also be found dead in the wilderness if their luck was bad. Fang Yi never relied on luck, so he preferred to sit through the night rather than log out to browse forums.

There were five other players in the carriage, and only one druid shared Fang Yi's mindset. The other four were sitting straight with blank expressions, clearly having logged out.

The only sounds in the carriage were the "clip-clop" of the hooves and the "creak" of the wheels. The human druid sitting opposite Fang Yi occasionally fiddled with his oak staff, otherwise, he was meditating with his eyes closed. Fang Yi, on the other hand, turned to stare out the window at the forest, frowning slightly. There were no fast-growing forests in Faerun, only dense, primeval jungles. Why was it so quiet today?

The next moment, a sudden neighing of the horses broke the silence in the carriage, followed by a violent jolt of the carriage. Fang Yi clearly felt the carriage veer off the road and head straight into the forest on the right, scraping against the bushes and making a series of "crack" sounds. Realizing something was wrong, Fang Yi immediately twisted his waist, leaned forward, grabbed the door frame, and leaped out of the carriage just as it was about to lose balance.