Above the mage

Chapter 340 [Disguise] and the Exorcism of the Water Beast

After identifying the three key shops to focus on, Gaode immediately instructed the errand runners who were monitoring the other shops to shift their attention to these three shops as well.

After settling the daily wages for the deliverymen, he left first.

Gaode already has a preliminary plan in mind for the next steps.

He passed the training assessment successfully, which means he is now able to earn military merits by taking on missions.

Gao De's idea was simple: first, accept a mission located outside Dorne, and then use the mission as an opportunity to temporarily leave Dorne.

While on a mission, he could use astral teleportation to return to the North and retrieve some extraordinary materials from Phoenix to exchange for the funds needed to purchase shops.

However, even if extraordinary materials are obtained from cities outside Dorne, the Sea Sentinels, with their abilities, would surely be able to find clues if they wanted to investigate.

Therefore, a certain amount of pretense is still necessary when making transactions.

Following Gao De's approach, it would be best to obtain the spell recipe for [Disguise] and master the spell as soon as possible.

Ordinary disguises are nowhere near as direct and effective as magic.

Moreover, the art of disguise can be used in many other aspects of life, not just in transactions.

Therefore, after leaving the restaurant, Gaode went straight to the Arcane Vault, which belonged to the official city of Dorne.

The Dorne Arcane Vault is located in the most bustling downtown area of ​​Dorne, specifically on Regent Street, the most vibrant part of the city.

Generally, the spell recipes that the official sellers offer for sale are ordinary spell recipes, and they are usually general-purpose spells and utility spells that do not have any destructive power.

This is why God didn't rush to buy spell recipes after arriving in Dorne.

In a world where knowledge is monopolized, knowledge that can be sold is not very valuable.

Rare spells or damaging spells are absolutely not for sale.

However, [Disguise] is just a functional spell of the illusion school, so there is still a chance to buy it in the Arcane Vault.

To Gao De's disappointment, although the Arcane Vault offered more than ten first-level spell recipes, it did not include [Disguise].

However, since I was already there, I decided to take advantage of the fact that I hadn't yet mastered the "Quick Discovery" and "Comfortable Sleep" features.

[Rapid Excavation] (Change System, 1 Ring):

You can dig and move dirt, dust, and sand, up to a cube with a maximum side length of 5 feet.

If you are buried, you can clear a 5-foot square area around your body.

Besides this common use, this spell can also dig a 5-foot-deep pit under the feet of creatures, and medium or smaller creatures on top of the pit will fall to the ground unless they react in time.

When a large pit is dug using this spell, you can choose to have the excavated gravel and debris violently ejected upwards. This cloud of smoke will provide temporary cover to the excavated area and adjacent areas.

The quick digging spell has no effect on hard rock or earth elementals.

[Comfortable Sleep] (Necromancer, 1st Ring):

You can cast this spell when you are about to rest. When affected by this spell, the recipient will enjoy a peaceful and restful sleep during the night.

During a comfortable sleep, the patient's natural recovery speed is doubled.

Any interruption of action during rest (such as being awakened) will terminate the spell effect of the awakened subject.

The healing effects of a comfortable slumber are considered natural healing and do not affect the healing effects of magical healing.

Two functional spells, the latter of which should be included in the essential spell collection for home and travel.

Leaving aside the effect of doubling the natural recovery speed of injuries, the fact that it allows the patient to enter a comfortable sleep state without pain or side effects is already quite remarkable.

As a modern person, Gao De understands very well the importance of sleep quality.

Although a sorcerer possesses extraordinary powers, he is still human and can also suffer from insomnia.

A sleeping spell with no side effects—what's there to say? Learn it thoroughly!

As for the "Quick Discover" feature, I personally probably won't use it very often.

But for the North, and for Phoenix, this is a miraculous skill that accelerates infrastructure development and farming.

We must take it down.

One of the advantages of big cities is that these common spell recipes are usually sold along with pre-mixed potions, which buyers can choose to purchase as needed.

Since there were readily available potions, Gao De naturally decided to buy them all together.

It's worth mentioning that the spell recipe costs 25 Goldbird Coins, while the corresponding spell potion costs 42 Goldbird Coins.

However, if you buy them together as a package, they only cost 65 Gold Sparrow Coins, a discount of 2 Gold.

Two spell recipes plus potions cost another 130 gold from Gaode.

That's already equivalent to the price of a quarter of a shop.

Besides the difficulty in constructing spell models, the learning cost is a major limitation for mages in mastering spells.

This is one of the reasons why it's difficult for ordinary mages to rise to prominence.

The profession of mage requires not only talent but is also extremely expensive. Unless you're a noble, how can you afford to spend so much money?

Unable to purchase the [Disguise Technique], Gao De had no choice but to give up for the time being and return to his dormitory to continue his daily practice and learning of the new spell.

The next morning, just as the sunlight filtered through the dappled leaves and fell on the street, he was called down by the Naxi monk.

Yesterday, Captain Roel asked God to go see Naxi when he had time, and Naxi decided to go today.

We arrived by carriage at Captain Roll's mansion, a typical Dornish building, large in scale, multi-story, with prominent towers, and red brick walls adorned with delicately patterned plaster carvings and colorful glazed tiles.

Before the cast-iron gate, Gao De and the Naxi monk alighted from the carriage. Led by the butler, who was already waiting at the door and dressed in a black uniform and white gloves, they walked along the cobblestone path to the spacious and bright reception room, where they met Captain Roel.

He was standing by the window, admiring the view of the small garden outside, when he heard footsteps and slowly turned around.

"Master Luo'er." Master Naxi stepped forward, bowed slightly, and spoke with a hint of respect.

"Captain Rohr." God also saluted.

Captain Roel smiled, glanced at Gao De, and then said, "Naxi is your mentor mage, and I was Naxi's mentor mage back then. Because of this connection, I asked Naxi to bring you here so I could meet you."

"Gao De, this is our first formal meeting. As your elder, I should prepare a gift for you. However, I think you would prefer a gift tailored to your needs, so..."

He paused slightly. "Is there anything you need? Extraordinary equipment, potions, or something else?"

Upon hearing this, Gao De did not answer immediately, but instead turned to look at the Naxi monk.

Master Naxi smiled slightly at Gao De, "This is a gift from Master Luo Er as a token of our greeting. Don't be shy, just let me know if you need anything."

Gao De thought for a moment, then asked hesitantly, "Would a spell recipe work?"

"Of course, but it's too rare for me to pass on to outsiders," Captain Rol stated in advance.

Upon hearing this, Gao De perked up and quickly asked, "Would the recipe for the [Disguise] spell work?"

The recipe for the [Disguise] spell isn't common, but it's definitely not rare either, so it's highly likely to work.

that's the truth.

Captain Rol gave an order to the butler behind him. A moment later, the butler returned with a parchment scroll, bowed slightly, and handed it to God.

Gao De nodded his thanks to the butler, took the scroll, and bowed to Captain Luo Er in gratitude, "Thank you, Captain Luo Er."

Captain Rol smiled and said, "The Disguise Technique itself is not a rare spell, but for us sea sentinel mages who often need to go out on missions, it is indeed used quite often."

"In many cases, it is even more useful than damage spells. However, it is also easy for unscrupulous mages to use it for evil deeds or to create chaos. For this reason, the authorities have included [Disguise] in the list of controlled spells. You have good foresight, kid."

No wonder I didn't see [Disguise] in the Arcanite Vault of Dorne, now I understand!

After presenting the gift, Captain Roel reminisced with the sorcerer Naxi, occasionally offering a word or two of advice to God on things to be aware of or certain secrets among the sea sentinels.

The most useful tip is: always be realistic about your abilities when accepting tasks.

According to Captain Roll, one failed mission is more detrimental to one's resume than ten successful ones.

At the same time, when he talked about this, he also mentioned very subtly, "Some people take advantage of this to suppress their colleagues. When accepting a task, you must do a good job of screening."

Although Captain Roll put it mildly, God instantly understood his meaning:

Nobles may commission seemingly ordinary but actually deceptive "trap" missions from the Sea Sentinels. If you accept such a mission, you are likely to be tricked.

"But don't worry, all the extermination missions issued by our Sea Sentinels are assessed in advance, so there are basically no missions that are completely impossible to complete," Captain Rol added.

"If such a task does occur, even if it fails, after review and evaluation, it will be considered that the task information was incorrect, and it will not be recorded as a task failure in your resume."

Gao De nodded slightly upon hearing this.

The Sea Sentinels' meaning is simple: if the extermination missions they issue are more difficult than those in the intelligence, that's normal; if you can't complete them, it's a problem with your ability.

But if it exceeds that by too much, then it's none of your business.

After chatting for almost half an hour, Naxi said goodbye and left.

"Are you heading back?" Naxi asked after the two left Captain Rohr's residence and summoned a carriage.

After thinking for a moment, Gao De unfolded the spell recipe he had just obtained from Captain Rol.

[Disguise] (Illusionist, 1st Ring):

You alter yourself and all your belongings, including clothing, armor, and weapons. The effect ends when the spell terminates (one hour) or when you manually dispel it.

To the naked eye, your height can increase or decrease by 1 foot, and your body shape can be fat, thin, or well-proportioned, but you cannot change the shape of your body, so your deformed appearance must have limbs or similar physiological structures.

The changes produced by this spell cannot be detected by physical objects. For example, if you use this spell to add a hat, physical objects will pass through the hat, and anyone who touches the hat will either not be able to touch anything or will only touch your head and hair; if you use this spell to make yourself thinner, when someone touches you, their hand will look like they are touching thin air.

His gaze swept quickly across the spell effects and landed on the spell potion recipe below.

Then they discovered that although disguise was restricted and difficult to obtain, the raw materials needed for its spells and potions were relatively common and easy to acquire.

"I plan to go to the magic supply store first to buy the raw materials needed for the disguise spell potion."

"Then I'll see you off. Get in the car," said the Naxi monk.

Since there was a car available, Gaode didn't stand on ceremony with the Naxi monk and readily agreed.

After getting into the car, Naxi thought for a moment and then spoke to Gao De: "The reason why Master Luo Er wanted to give you a gift was only a small part because he was once my mentor. The more important reason is that during your training and assessment, he knew that your assessment candidate had been changed at the last minute, but he still called away me, the only one who could speak up for you."

"This is actually a form of apology."

"Of course, given his status, the word 'compensation' wouldn't be appropriate for him with your words, so it's called a 'meeting gift,' but the meaning is the same."

"So that's how it is." Only then did Gao De understand why Captain Luo had been so generous to him.

After all, a regular first-level spell recipe costs as much as 25 gold, not to mention a spell recipe like [Disguise] which is subject to regulation.

Without even visiting several shops, Gao De bought all the raw materials needed for the [Disguise] spell potion at the first magic material shop, spending another 43 Goldfinch coins.

After saying goodbye to the Naxi monk, he thought about it and decided not to go back. Instead, he went to the White Pagoda of the Sea Abyss.

Upon entering the main hall on the first floor of the Mage Tower, Gao De arrived in front of the crystal panel.

Since we're already out here, let's see if there are any suitable missions.

Because military merits can be exchanged for many good things and are also related to the most important year-end evaluation, there is actually a lot of competition among the sea sentinel mages. Everyone is vying to accept and complete missions.

Under normal circumstances, once an extermination mission is released, it will be available for one to three days at most before being taken away.

Some easy tasks can even be completed in seconds.

This also resulted in the tasks listed on the crystal board appearing rather sparse, with very few at all.

The level of a mage in the first ring limits the range of tasks that Gaode can accept.

So, he scanned the entire route, almost to the bottom, but still hadn't found a single task that he could accept.

Competition should already exist when accepting a task.

If things go as I think, those noble mages must also have arrangements at the mage tower, so they can find suitable extermination missions and accept them as soon as possible.

Commoner mages like him who refused recruitment could only eat leftovers.

Gaode was thinking as he browsed the task list.

Finally, at the very end of the crystal plate, he saw a quest that he could accept.

[Lagos City Water Beast Expulsion]:

Location: Marcoko District, Lagos City

Specific situation: Residents of the Marco district have repeatedly reported finding schools of octopuses and rotting salamanders in the water, which are seriously affecting their daily lives and require the intervention of sorcerers to clear and drive them away.

Note: The Demon Octopus and the Putrid Water Salamander are low-level aquatic beasts, and even their leaders generally do not exceed the first level of strength.

Quest Difficulty: Low; any first-level mage can accept this quest.

The water beast expulsion mission, or even the first-stage water beast expulsion and eradication mission, should be the simplest and most common mission.

However, Gaode did not accept the task immediately.

Because the tasks on the Crystal Board are arranged in chronological order of release, this means that this task was the earliest released among all the tasks listed on the Crystal Board.

He glanced at the release date again; it was seven days ago.

Why is it that such a seemingly simple task has been posted for seven days and still no one has accepted it?

There's a high chance there's something hidden behind this mission.

With Captain Roll's advice, God dared not act rashly.

(End of this chapter)