Chapter 76

After walking for nearly an hour, Fang Yi felt a sudden brightness as they passed through a thicket hidden among tall trees. The clear moonlight, which had been obscured for a long time, once again shone upon Fang Yi. After traveling in the darkness for so long, the buildings ahead appeared bright and clear under the moonlight.

This was a village surrounded by a large expanse of tall trees, with faint lights twinkling here and there. There was no wall around the village, and the buildings, both tall and short, were clearly visible. A particularly prominent building stood in the center of the village, but with limited night vision, only its general outline could be seen, likely a temple of some sort.

"Finally home," the young man sighed in relief, feeling his whole body relax as if the danger behind him had instantly vanished. Fang Yi turned his head to look around but saw no sentries or watchtowers. Could there be some powerful person in this village?

"Adventurer, follow me," the old man's mood had clearly improved. "Once we're in the village, we'll be safe. I really must thank you!"

Fang Yi followed the two of them closely and soon reached the outskirts of the village. At the village entrance, several dark figures appeared and quickly surrounded them.

"Fort, you're back!?" "Grandpa Il, how did you get injured!?" The villagers were overjoyed to see the old and young men return safely. After the priest in the crowd examined Il's injuries and confirmed there was no danger, everyone finally relaxed.

"Village chief, are you okay! I thought the big bad wolf had caught you." A little girl tugged at Il's and Fort's clothes, tears in her eyes.

Fort smiled and picked up the little girl, introducing Fang Yi, who had saved their lives, to the crowd. Amidst the chorus of thanks, Fang Yi entered the village with everyone. Il, accompanied by Fort, went to get his injuries treated, while Fang Yi rested in a house.

Looking around the room, Fang Yi's mind raced. Among the villagers who had come to greet them, except for two children younger than Fort, everyone else was holding staves or rods. Fang Yi's detection skill revealed three mages and one priest, all at least level 14!

Although Faerûn was a high-magic world, mages were as rare as postdoctoral researchers in the real world—rarely seen by ordinary people. On one hand, mages were indeed scarce, and on the other, most NPC mages in the game lived in isolation, and player mages had to travel far to learn skills at remote mage towers. How could such a small village have so many NPC mages?

Not long after, Il came to the room where Fang Yi was staying. The old man looked a bit weak, but fortunately, the village had a priest, and his abdominal wound had been treated with magic, so he should be fine.

"Adventurer, I must thank you again. If you hadn't helped us, my grandson and I would have been done for." Il's complexion was much better as he thanked Fang Yi again.

Fang Yi quickly replied, "No problem, it's our duty as adventurers to eliminate evil. But I'm curious, why did those... bandits chase you?"

"That's exactly what I wanted to tell you," Il glanced at the sky outside before turning to speak. "Our enemies are too vicious, adventurer. You don't need to take this risk. Take this; it will guide you. Leave as soon as possible."

Il handed over a compass-like object. Fang Yi guessed it was probably some kind of survival item, but there was no reason to leave now.

Fang Yi pushed Il's hand away and said sincerely, "Mr. Il, I didn't save you for any reward. To me, evil must be eradicated wherever I see it." Fang Yi stood up and patted the short sword at his waist. "Please believe in my resolve and strength."

Seeing Il's moved expression, Fang Yi thought, "Can I not convince you?"

"That's great. Killing three such vicious enemies alone, we need a hero like you in our village. Here's what happened," Fang Yi listened to Il's story and gradually understood the situation.

It turned out that this small village was called Green Creek Village, a secluded place, neither a beginner village nor a supply point. No other "adventurers" had come here before Fang Yi. According to Il, the Temple of the Magic Goddess in the center of the village was a very ancient ruin, the tall building Fang Yi had seen outside. No one knew when or by whom it was built.

Every year during the month of Falling Leaves, the villagers would gather in the temple and use the sacred relics passed down by their ancestors to pray to the Magic Goddess Mystra for protection.

Miraculously, in the years with records of the rituals, the village produced a high number of magical prodigies, with one in ten young people successfully becoming mage apprentices (reaching level 1 as a mage), a ratio that was a miracle compared to the extremely low number of mages in Faerûn. (According to the setting, the distribution of spellcasters in Faerûn was basically dumbbell-shaped, with many high-level and low-level spellcasters but few in the middle, but the overall proportion of spellcasters was very small compared to the population of the entire Faerûn continent.)

Hearing this, Fang Yi's mind started to work. A ruin, a high output of mages—could Mystra have done something similar to the Sons of Thunder here?

In Il's account, four days ago, the sacred relic in the temple was stolen. The village chief Il and several other elders followed the magical mark left on the relic, killed the thief, and recovered the relic. However, the enemy was strong, so to ensure the relic's safety, Il entrusted it to another group and stayed with Fort to draw the enemy's attention.

What followed was what Fang Yi had seen. After hearing Il's story, Fang Yi couldn't help but glance at him. So, the owners of the vicious wolves that attacked his carriage were likely the ones Il and the others had killed—seems he had a connection with this village. But with at least five vicious wolves, these old men must be quite powerful!

"Now the relic is safely back in the village, but the enemy is strong, a fatal threat to the village." Il shook his head, his furrowed brows showing his anger and worry.

Fang Yi stroked his chin, thinking for a moment before asking, "Who are the enemies? Shouldn't the relic's storage location be very secure? How could it be stolen?"

"Their group is mixed, with sorcerers and mages. Most are dressed like pirates. However, our village is inland, with little contact with the outside world. Moreover, the sacred relic of the goddess can only be used in this temple and is not valuable. Why would pirates come here?"

***

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