Dear Broom Knight.

Chapter 939 The Cautious Celie

Despite their differing opinions, the gods share a common goal: to ensure the smooth return of the embodiment of the world's will.

They seem to have gotten used to having a backer to protect them and are unwilling to take the lead themselves.

No god desires to become the true ruler of the world.

They pursue personal strength, not the power and influence of commanding a large following.

Therefore, the world's will to resolve any trouble they cause effectively is truly important.

Even the gods who don't like to cause trouble hope that the benefactor who can suppress the troublemakers next door will come back.

The only one who seems ambiguous is probably the Lord of the Tower.

There's been a vague feeling about Toronto for a long time.

Although it is an evil aspect, all the Lord of Ice wants to do is occupy a mountain, and all who come will bow down in worship.

He didn't care what happened outside.

Such a Lord of Ice naturally also hoped that the incarnation of the world's will would return to its rightful place. Although his steps in conferring godhood were chaotic and messy, they still met the basic requirements of the world's will for gods in general.

The reason why the Tower Lord, who is clearly much smarter than him, has not been so successful is that he has no interest in abiding by the rules of the world's will and always tries to break through the blockade to become a god.

Knowing full well how dangerous it was, he still clung to the divine position of Lord of the Magic Tower, most likely because it was his only hopeful path.

The greater the risk, the sweeter the reward.

The only uncertainty is whether he himself will be able to obtain the fruit before the risk is eliminated.

Otherwise, even if he has mental problems, he shouldn't be so crazy, right?
He's not extremely chaotic.

Toronto sensed this and that's why it went to great lengths to cooperate with the gods' actions.

Although he felt that the Tower Lord was not very capable of plotting, and that even he could guess the plan, the gods who knew the Tower better could not possibly not guess it... But, what if?
He was satisfied with this world and did not want a world ruler with the arrogance of a towering lord to suddenly appear out of nowhere.

What does it mean to still have some bottom line? What does it mean to still have some order? They are all worthless in the face of 'utter lack of morality'... The world's ruler who understands order best is none other than AO!
Those miserable days at Toril, anyone who wants to move can go on their own, he certainly doesn't.
-
Little Celie finally entered the secret realm just before she could no longer hold on.

At least she saved her beloved dressing table.

Of course, she herself didn't know where she was.

Suddenly caught in the vortex and still alive and kicking, even managing to hold the logs securely in her hands, Celie knew that her world had changed.

Even while she was on the surface of the sea, amidst those floating objects, her instincts were screaming danger and urging her to run.

Regardless of whether her intuition was overly sensitive, Celie, who survived by relying on that intuition, would only choose to believe in herself.

But here, she didn't sense any danger.

She even received a strange revelation: as long as she could break through the protective magic surrounding these bizarre treasures in the vortex before a certain time, she could take them all!
After a few seconds of excitement, Celie touched her body in a daze... How come it's dry?
While being in the center of a tornado or water vortex may not be as dangerous, the splashing, heavy wind and water, along with the debris carried along with them, can actually create a real danger for anyone standing there.

At the very least, she shouldn't be this dry.

Although the item was important, Celie felt she should think things through more clearly to avoid future trouble.

After thinking about it carefully for a while, she concluded that the strange feeling she had just experienced on the log was because she had passed through some kind of special barrier.

She has not only entered the second stage, but has also likely completely left the sea area she was in.

Once approved, one can obtain underwater breathing magic and waterproof/windproof magic for a certain period of time from within the barrier.

Generally speaking, the duration of this spell will not exceed 6 hours.

If it's distributed via a barrier, there might be a discount.

That means... Celie quickly examined the various precious treasures in the vortex, and finally settled her gaze on a box of pearls that didn't look particularly bright or large.

Rather than calling it a pearl, it's more accurate to describe it as a magical creation... and pearls are most commonly used to create water-making and waterproofing spells.

Having decided on one must-have item, Celie quickly looked for new targets.

Soon, she saw another Ain Stone.

Storm is on its way!

In order to obtain the most resources with the least amount of money, Celie frantically memorized many resources for non-knight professions.

Ainstone is a very important part of this.

After all, although it is said that only archmages can use this thing, and even the most powerful high-ranking knights can only trigger the lowest level at most... but Celie vaguely felt that she could.

Then, after gathering some information, she bravely tried and succeeded.

The little booklet engraved in her soul was etched by the energy of an Aion Stone no bigger than a fingernail. Aion Stones come in many varieties: pearly white, elegant purple, serene blue, emerald green, and a calming rose gray. The shades of color... can lead to vastly different functions, and spherical and spindle shapes are completely different as well.

Celie carefully examined the strangely grayish Aion Stone before her, her face solemn... After all, a darker shade could make one feel breathless, while a lighter shade would enhance one's allure.

If she hadn't realized it, she probably would have ruined herself to the point of never breathing again.

Of course, she didn't stop what she was doing while identifying the pearls; a slender magic sword was firmly pressed on top of the small box filled with pearls.

Celie finally sighed and gave up on making Ainstone her next target.

That thing is indeed expensive; even three more boxes of spell pearls wouldn't be as valuable as that one spherical Ainstone.

That's a very rare color!

However, this can only be used as a backup.

The other side of her rare talent is that she lacks breadth of knowledge.

Celie forced herself to pull her lingering gaze away and continued searching in the vortex... Tsk~ What is that golden wine jug?

Wow, what a magnificent thing!
Could this be the preference of some deity?

Upon noticing the golden pot, Celie immediately sensed its terrifying and powerful energy.

Without needing any introduction, the image of a 'divine artifact'—the pinnacle of existence—immediately came to mind.

No...isn't this the labyrinth that the gods used to toy with mortals?

Celie didn't believe Edwards's words about 'this is a test from the gods' or anything like that.

Of course, if you insist on calling it a test, you could barely qualify.

However, for gods who easily have countless followers, this behavior is a bit like taking off your pants to fart... it's really unnecessary.

Unless they cannot find the person they want among their own believers.

But isn't the Lord of Storms among them?

Ninety-nine percent of these northerners who entered the labyrinth are Storm Believers!
Therefore, rather than a test, it was more like these mortals putting on a show for the gods for money and honor.

However, after entering the maze and obtaining her first reward, Celie thought that humans weren't losing anything anyway.

The gift from the gods is well worth the price.

In this kind of performance where everyone knows the truth, those with exceptional talent and the right to be selected will naturally be able to move on to the next act.

It is only natural that outstanding people deserve better rewards.

Celie was happy to have earned this honor, but if she didn't, she would calmly take her reward and leave.

After all, she already had a better way out and no longer needed to search for a way to save herself in the maze.

But what is this?
These days, are gods really so hasty in choosing people?
She won the lottery?

The situation was so absurd that Celie was still somewhat dazed after cleaning off the outer protective layer of the spell pearl. She mechanically took the pearl box into her hand, placed it on the poison and curse testing table that she had spent a fortune to buy, and checked it over. Only after confirming that the pearl was indeed without any problems and that the spell inside was indeed the underwater breathing spell did she belatedly realize what had happened.

She took out a pearl, put it in her mouth and pressed it under her tongue, then took two more pearls and put them in the small pocket of her shirt collar... When needed, she could just lower her head and bite them. Only then did Celie put the pearl box into her backpack.

Then, she hesitated.

Celie instinctively didn't call the police, but the lack of any response also made her vaguely suspicious.

She actually knew that her intuition was more like a combination of her instincts and knowledge... If there was no hidden danger, then even if there was a problem, it wouldn't actually alert her.

But for Celie, the unknown is the most terrifying thing.

She quietly took a step back, then turned and went straight for the gray Ainstone... Anyway, she had so many pearls, she didn't necessarily need to use this thing.

Then just focus on the price.

She couldn't recognize anything else, and she couldn't recognize anything now... Celie knew that under the light of that divine artifact, no matter what she looked at, she wouldn't be satisfied.

Her greed is slowly destroying her reason.

But she wasn't completely helpless.

She had just estimated the price of the rare Aion Stone to be at least 15,000 gold.

If she can convince herself that when faced with so many expensive items, she should still prioritize the pearl box, which costs at most 3000 gold, then she can convince herself that the Ain Stone is more cost-effective.

After all, better products are bound to have stronger protection!
Who knows if she, such a weak and helpless girl, has the ability to break through the protection of the divine artifact?
Rather than ending up with nothing, it's better to get what she already knows about first.

(End of this chapter)