Chess Mage of Faerûn

Chapter 150 Herbart
Looking at the pile of books, Zhang Yuan's anxiety and fear of losing them were almost uncontrollably reflected on his face.

I stepped forward slowly and picked up the top book with the utmost care, as if I were protecting a newborn baby.

Fortunately, this book, whether due to its superior material or other protective measures, has not decayed despite its age.

I gently picked up the cover with two fingers and flipped it open. After browsing a few pages, I realized that it was not my most important goal for this trip, but it was still quite interesting. It was a collection of notes about magical experiments.

There's such a thing? Could the tomb's occupant have been a sorcerer?
Without wasting any more time, Zhang Yuan activated Arcane Vision and searched through the pile of books, but found nothing and nothing unusual.

Continuing their search inside the sarcophagus, after eliminating several magical items and the wooden coffin, they unexpectedly discovered a box in a corner, from which shimmering magical light emanated.

Take it out and hold it in your hand, dust it off. The box itself is already incredibly luxurious. The various gems inlaid on it and the spell circuits engraved like a spider web all show that it is of extraordinary quality.

Is this... a version of buying the casket and returning the pearl? Someone wondered to themselves.

Surprisingly, the box wasn't locked at all; it was easily opened with just a flick of the wrist.

Upon opening, a thick book was revealed, its cover bearing the words—"A Manual of Physical Health."

This was the item Zhang Yuan had been keeping in mind, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that it was the most valuable of all these treasures.

This manual contains a wealth of valuable information on health preservation and longevity, including basic first aid knowledge, massage techniques, and precautions regarding diet and medication.

At first glance, it may seem like just a health guide, but in reality, it is imbued with powerful magic that can improve the user's physical condition.

Constitution +1!

What does this mean? Improving any physical attribute is extremely difficult, especially since Zhang Yuan already has 18 points of physique. If he wants to go to the next level and break through the limit of ordinary people to reach 19, it is unknown how much price and effort he will have to pay.

But this very book is what allows him to overcome all these hardships and tribulations and achieve his goal in one step.

Someone who had a deep understanding of the power of 19 points had also inquired about the situation after breaking through the limits of physical fitness. The answers given to him by both the Archmage and Ska were inseparable from one word—self-recovery.

After synthesizing various pieces of information, Zhang Yuan could roughly determine that although this recovery ability could not reach the level of limb regeneration or blood regeneration through breathing, blood regeneration during sleep was by no means a pipe dream.

Unfortunately, this manual will likely disappear automatically after being used once.

Instead of using them right away, Zhang Yuan chose to put all the books into his storage bag first.

Looking up at his two teammates, he saw that the dwarf brother, with Münster's help, had already begun to take stock of their spoils.

Seeing how busy the other party was, Zhang Yuan, who had originally planned to help with magic tricks, simply gave up the idea and let the two generals enjoy the pleasure of counting money.

As for the wooden coffin in the center, Zhang Yuan currently has no intention of even touching it.

Putting everything else aside, the ominous light and subtle yet unsettling fluctuations emanating from the coffin under arcane vision were enough to make someone whose reason and intuition both alerted them to retreat decisively.

This is the tomb of a Buddhist monk; Zhang Yuan was almost certain of that.

But an even bigger question arises: if this is a mage's graveyard, then such rich burial goods and various magical items are not surprising. But if this is clearly a graveyard, why is it associated with so-called pirate treasure?
It's not that no mage would stoop to being a pirate; after all, the prevailing attitude had long been corrupted by Luskan and his gang.

The problem is, given the pirates' "live for today" mentality, would they really leave behind such a large sum of money as burial goods? What a joke! Leaving them even a coffin and shroud would be a great honor considering their past friendship.

Furthermore, while this health manual is indeed stored here in the game, it just doesn't make sense in real life. Imagine if Zhang Yuan also obtained this treasure; would he treat it as a collectible and keep it until his death?

How could that be? He couldn't wait to finish reading it that very night and then "eat" the book to improve his attributes.

But right now, this manual is actually sitting in my storage bag, which is quite contradictory.

But then I thought, since all the benefits have already fallen into my hands, why bother getting hung up on it?
After a while, Bard finally finished taking stock of what he had gained from the trip.

There weren't many gold coins, just three hundred, but the various gems, artworks, and several magical items greatly increased the value of this treasure.

The magical items were chosen by Zhang Yuan: a cloak, two staves, ten darts of the same type, a short sword, and a bunch of bottles and jars of potions.

Who would dare drink these medicines that have been stored for who knows how many years? They're probably more effective than poison.

All the potions and decorative items were put back into the stone coffin. These things were neither usable nor easy to sell, so it was better to leave them to their original owner to avoid looking too greedy, like scraping the ground clean.

The act of posing as tomb raiders is dishonorable in itself. If one doesn't even have some sense of propriety, wouldn't that be worse than even having a code of honor among thieves?

The remaining treasures were put into the storage bag, and Xiao Xiao, following orders, picked up the coffin lid and closed it again, returning everything to normal.

The mage, who felt he had already taken the lion's share, gave up the gold coins, which were then divided equally between the two generals. The magical items were kept as supplies for the team and kept by the team leader.

As for the gemstones, we need to find a way to sell them, which is not something that can be done in a short time.

However, the 150 gold coins they received were enough to make Bard and Münster overjoyed, especially Bard, who counted them several times before reluctantly handing them over to Zhang Yuan for safekeeping and to carry.

After leaving the cave, we boarded the carriage and returned along the same route. It was already afternoon, and we hadn't traveled far before night fell.

As usual, they set up camp and returned to their tents after dinner.

Now alone, Zhang Yuan finally had time to read through the books he had acquired that day.

Upon closer inspection, he was surprised to find that, apart from some books on transformation and alchemy, the rest were mostly notes and personal speculations.

I browsed through these notebooks with great interest and gained quite a bit of information.

The tomb's owner was named Herbart, who was indeed a mage and even a pirate, but this pirate's identity was quite extraordinary.

This Mr. Herbart, he was actually Bodean's mage partner back then!
This really piqued Zhang Yuan's curiosity.

Baldur's Gate, the famous and legendary pirate and the first founder of Baldur's Gate, set sail after leaving behind the city and his legendary deeds, in pursuit of the legendary island of Angome.

Now, the grand spectacle of yesteryear has faded into silence. Apart from the name and some stories circulating among the common people, there are few verifiable traces left.

But I suppose his ambitions lay elsewhere; what power or status could compare to the call from afar?

Pulling his wandering thoughts back to the notebook in his hands, Zhang Yuan focused his attention on it again.

(End of this chapter)