Equipment Printing School Mage
Page 223
Even someone like Sig who didn't know how to do the Feather Fall Technique was smiling happily, not thinking there was anything wrong with diving from a height of hundreds of kilometers!
Emilia finally understood what a martyr's consciousness was.
For Feren's sake, their team should not be disbanded.
When they were still in the same team, they brought death wherever they went. If the team were to break up, perhaps the efficiency of spreading death would increase fivefold.
What's with suing the deceased? It's clearly a shelter for problem children!!!
Click.
The thread of Emiya's sanity snapped completely, causing the last normal person to join the ranks of self-destruction. "--Are we going to keep descending like this, or do we need to take a break once in a while? Do you want me to put up a force field to slow us down? Do you want me to set an alarm?"
At this moment, Metatron's message reached Emiya's mind: [You really teleported away? Was the teleportation successful?]
"Ha." Emiya laughed dryly. "We've run into a little problem, but we're not dead yet. In a few minutes, have the scholars at Candlekeep look up at the sky. They'll probably see us."
【? 】
2. City of Knowledge
Candlekeep.
The largest library in Faerun.
It is located on the steep coast of the southernmost part of the Sword Coast. Layer upon layer of castle-like fortresses are combined together to form this mountain-like repository of knowledge.
This is one of the largest parishes of the Church of Oghma. However, not all the monks of Candlekeep who work here come from the Church of Oghma. When the Church of Magic was still active, there were also a large number of mages and priests of Mystra.
However, the Church of Oghma had successfully absorbed a large number of mages and even former members of the Church of Mystra, successfully occupying all the high-level positions. Candlekeep was now completely the preserve of the Oghma pantheon, with priests of Oghma, the god of knowledge, and Deenir, the god of writing, dominating the place.
——However, although Candlekeep and Baldur's Gate are very close, the relationship between the two sides is not very good.
Indeed, Oghma is the chief god of the knowledge pantheon, and Gond is the god of craftsmen in the pantheon and a subordinate of Oghma.
However, this does not mean that the Gond Church is a subordinate of the Oghma Church.
The people of Gond will give Candlekeep monks considerable respect, but that does not mean they will completely obey their orders.
In fact, the conflict of beliefs between the two sides can be said to be extremely serious. If it were not for the order from the gods themselves, it would be normal for the two sides to never interact with each other or even curse each other.
The Oracle Cult of the Church of Oghma now occupies the absolute mainstream position. They focus on controlling the channels for knowledge transmission and are unwilling to distribute tools that can spread information at will.
"Knowledge spreads, but so do rumors and deception. And there are always far more liars and fools than wise men. So, it's better not to spread it in the first place," Mars said. "This is the main conflict between the Oracle Cult and the Gond Church. What the Gond Church lacks is money and a sense of responsibility, but it has plenty of inspiration and courage. If no one pulls the people of Gond in line, they'll dare to do anything and reveal anything."
"...I think the Lore Masters (another name for priests) of the Church of Oghma are a bit too cautious." This overly cautious attitude naturally did not please the Lucky Priest.
Elaster was currently sitting sideways on Phantom Pony, clutching her robe to prevent the hem from being blown into her face by the howling wind. "If there's a risk, I won't do it. That's a somewhat unconvincing reason."
outrageous.
They were falling for such a long time that Emiya even had enough time to summon five phantom horses in mid-air! The casting time of this spell was a full minute!
At this moment, everyone was already aboard the Phantom Horses—Emia's Phantom Horses had grown wings, powerful enough to soar through the sky. However, under Emia's command, they still plummeted rapidly through the air. But at least they had an extra layer of insurance.
However, after calling for five phantom horses and riding on the phantom Pegasus for a few minutes, they actually just left the thick clouds and were able to see the majestic Candle Castle below.
Now, it was Sig who was the most unrestrained. The poet covered her skirt with one hand, hooked her other foot on the horse's back, and waved her hand downwards. "Hey, what a philosophy! To me, it's just that Candlekeep is worried about its intellectual monopoly."
Mars didn't get angry. He answered loudly, "Without a monopoly, there's no way to guarantee the purity of knowledge. But with a monopoly, someone is bound to profit from it. That's how the world works."
At this point, the paladin sighed and said, "I'm sorry, Emya, but I'm from the Oracle Cult. I don't want to live in a world of rumors, boasting, and deception. The good news is, I'm no longer a member of the Church of Oghma. So if you really want to discuss something with the Gond Church, please don't do it in front of me."
Emilia covered her face and sighed: "That's all for the future."
The purpose of their visit to Candlekeep was, of course, to claim the rewards of the Ritual of Truth: a final score of 3520 would almost certainly be exchanged for priceless knowledge, and this knowledge was obviously sealed deep within Candlekeep and could not be carried by Christine.
Secondly, and most importantly for Faerun, they might participate in Xinbu's care.
The once-rare archmage, Simbu, has lost her mind. The anti-magic shackles upon her were not placed by a demon—they were the work of Elminster himself.
Xinbu is a famous wizard and sorcerer. For someone like her, losing her mind would only make her spells more arbitrary.
Given her strength, this behavior pattern means she could disappear into any corner of Faerun at any moment, potentially transforming into a humanoid Scourge at any moment.
And Oghma, the god of knowledge, has decided to take over Elminster's responsibility and leave Xinbu in Candlekeep to be looked after. Although they may not necessarily be involved from beginning to end, Xinbu was rescued by them after all, so it is reasonable to make a handover - and to get another reward.
It can even be said that rescuing Xinbu from the devil's hands is a feat no less than saving Baldur's Gate, and he deserves a large reward.
Although Emiya was no longer so interested in rewards - he had only been adventuring for a few months, and the money had completely become a number, and his life had become boring and tedious.
Finally, the open space in front of Candlekeep gradually became clearer, so much so that Emilia could even see the emblems on the greeters.
——A gear.
"Did I see it wrong?" Emilia was stunned for a moment. "Why are there people from Gond guarding the door? I thought Candlekeep would send someone to greet them?"
Mars straightened up on the Phantom Pony and replied, "I don't know, but the monks of Candlekeep won't greet us. The winner of the Ritual of Truth doesn't hold a very high position in Candlekeep, at least not worthy of having someone of the Great Reader's rank personally come out to greet him. Sending someone of too low status would offend them, so Candlekeep has simply stopped sending anyone."
Emiya took a quick look around. Candlekeep wasn't just a bare castle. In fact, there was a small town outside, where quite a few travelers were staying. However, Emiya and the others were clearly not among them.
The extreme speed of free fall rapidly decreased under the effect of Feather Fall, until finally, Emiya and her group rode on Phantom Horses and landed slowly on the ground like real feathers.
It turned out that this group of Gond people were waiting for Emilia and her group.
The leading priest saw Emya and immediately led his team to greet them. Ironically, Emya had met nearly every Silver Shield priest before, but his interactions with the current Gond Church were limited, so he didn't recognize this Gond priest. Perhaps this priest's high status meant he had spent so much time within the temple during the Late Summer Rebellion.
Regardless, before Emya and her companions could even dismount, Reverend Gund approached with immense enthusiasm and shook Emya's hand. "Ah, I presume you are Team Emya. Nice to meet you! I am the bishop of the Gund Church in Baldur's Gate. While you were in Baldur's Gate, I was busy with church affairs and never had the chance to meet you. Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Hus, a Baldur native, and I'm in charge of... smoke powder in the Gund Church. Therefore, during those turbulent days in Baldur's Gate, I was the one being watched the most closely—everyone knew what it meant when I left the house."
As he spoke, Pastor Hus' eyes widened and he looked at Elastrid: "Am I seeing things? - Miss Elastrid? Why are you here?"
The Smiling Lady's priest bowed slightly in return. "By a strange fate, I was invited by Emya in Eltoril, and have been traveling with them ever since."
"Ah, congratulations again." Huss stepped forward eagerly and held Emilia's hand tightly, as if afraid she would sprout wings and fly away. "Priests from Tymora are always among the most welcome traveling companions. Who doesn't want to have good luck on their journey? But how come you're coming from directly above?"
Having said that, Emiya, who had just experienced an epic teleportation accident, could only sigh and reply, "Thank you very much. May I ask why you are here?"
"Of course, I'm here to greet everyone from Team Emia!"
Emya remained largely in the shadows during his time at Baldur's Gate, and in fact, most of Gond were unaware of his identity.
But now things were obviously different. Hus's hands were getting stronger and stronger. "...Our church has recently collected several famous items... no, artifacts!"
"Plate armor acquired from the Watchers, and burrower armor from Eltoril!"
He spoke louder and louder: "At first, everyone was a little confused about Master Gutenberg's decision, but now it's different. When you see those two perfectly formed pieces of armor..."
"...My Lord has already incorporated divine craftsmanship into the divine arts."
"what?!"
"...This divine art is like a firewood stick in our hands!" Hus whispered. "If we try to manipulate the material more aggressively, its performance will be severely degraded, and we won't be able to achieve the precision of using it with the same ease as our own arms!
The priest of the Gond Church grew increasingly excited. "On the one hand, we are here to support Candlekeep. On the other hand, we are here to protect you under the orders of Master Craftsman Gutenberg! You are a treasure to all of Faerun. You must pay attention to your own safety!"
"Uh...thank you very much then."
Such undisguised enthusiasm still made Emilia somewhat uncomfortable. However, the craftsmen obviously didn't mind and directly pulled them towards Candlekeep.
"Um, please allow me to take the certificate of the winner of the Ritual of Truth..."
"If these gatekeepers don't even know that the winner of the Ritual of Truth will arrive today, then they are quite stupid!"
Candlekeep sits on the coast, a gate several meters long and wide stretching across the land. The flame emblem on the gate is the symbol of Candlekeep. However, as if to welcome Emiya and her group, this heavy gate has already been opened.
Entering Candlekeep requires a costly donation—a restriction that applies only to outsiders. All churches of the Oghma pantheon can enter and exit Candlekeep freely, and the people of Gond are no exception.
The Gond people regrouped and entered Candlekeep unhindered, and Emilia had already revealed the crystal book given by Christine the Great Reader.
A young gatekeeper respectfully put his weapon aside and took the crystal book without further inspection.
He looked at Mars behind Emilia and sighed: "As long as Mars hasn't gone crazy in the past few years, that arrogant guy wouldn't try to fool me with fake goods."
"Ha! Thanks for your concern. I'm not crazy yet." Mars smiled. "But you'd better take a look."
"What's so interesting?" The gatekeeper stepped forward and recited softly, causing the crystal book to project a few lines of words into the air. "Number, time, place, host, winner, all are fine. Score... score... eh?"
The gatekeeper was silent for a while, took a few steps back, and looked around as if looking for something.
"Sir?" Emilia was stunned.
The gatekeeper took a deep breath and shouted, "I'm looking for your truck! Am I the one who's crazy? 3520 points? The previous record for the Arithmetic Instrument was 730 points! That's more than all the previous Arithmetic Instruments combined! Why don't you just take the truck and move all of Candlekeep back!"
Mars finally showed a bright smile on his face: "--That depends on whether the Lord Guardian is willing to spend the money. We are still racking our brains over how to use these points."
"Don't say you don't know. I can't even guess." The gatekeeper waved his hand. "If it were me, I would probably ask Lord Oghma to be chosen."
This topic is really not suitable to be expanded upon - admitting in front of a group of pastors that you rejected God's invitation?
You might really get beaten!
Emilia coughed lightly: "Also, there is one more thing..."
"what."
The gatekeeper, who had been shouting, suddenly lowered his voice. "Lord Apodel Adrian should be waiting for you at the entrance to Candlekeep's inner courtyard. Lord Elminster is also there."
"Thank you."
"Thank you. Be careful on your journey..." The gatekeeper hesitated. "As a believer of Oghma, I shouldn't jump to conclusions, but there have been many strange rumors and legends in Candlekeep recently."
"legend?"
The gatekeeper scratched his cheek, obviously feeling that what he was going to say next should not come from his mouth.
"More and more people are claiming to have seen visions of the dead in Candlekeep."
"what?"
Trifission
"Well, when we first met, I guessed that you guys wouldn't be satisfied with ordinary adventures..." Apodel Adrian sighed, "But when the news actually reached Baldur's Gate, I was still shocked."
Emiya and his companions planned to stay in Candlekeep for a long time. Whether it was learning the enchantment runes or attempting to forge the Holy Avenger for Apodel or even Mars, it would be a long task that would take months. Even the six magic books that enhanced human attributes required half a decade to read.
All in all, even if everything went smoothly, they would still have to stay in Candlekeep for two to three months, which was a rare break from their busy lives that had been keeping them busy in recent days.
Therefore, the tour of the outer courtyard of Candle Castle was simply scheduled for a later date.
Soon after entering Candlekeep, they parted ways with the Gond people - the Gond people obviously had other work to do, while they were heading to the inner court.
Today, the reason why Apodel Adrian left Baldur's Gate and personally greeted them in front of the archway of the inner court of Candlekeep was because there were even more important people waiting for them in the inner court.
Candlekeep is divided into the Outer Court and the Inner Court. The Outer Court is where most visitors seek knowledge. The knowledge here is sufficient to meet the needs of most people, even mages.
The Candlekeep in the Outer Court is merely a neutral center of knowledge, welcoming almost all visitors, while the Candlekeep in the Inner Court reveals its background as the Holy Land of Oghma and its side as a political entity.
To enter the Outer Court, one only needs to donate a carrier of knowledge; to enter the Inner Court, one must obtain permission signed by the Supreme Leader of Candlekeep - the Keeper of the Scriptures.
Apodel Adrian solemnly took out five documents from his waist and handed them to Emilia and others.
This was their permission to enter the inner court.
The archway in front of them was the dividing line between the inner court and the outer courtyard.
After the gatekeeper guarding the inner court ceremoniously checked their documents, he turned and chanted a spell towards the archway, removing some invisible protective magic.
Emilia pulled Miss Silver, who couldn't take her eyes off him, and followed Adrian into the world behind the arch.
The meticulously manicured gardens were supposed to be stunning in their refinement and craftsmanship, but against the backdrop of the fortress that blocked out the sun, they seemed like mere bonsai placed on a balcony.
Candlekeep.
Its reputation as a great library was so great that Emilia for a time forgot that this famous place was actually a fortress.
The weather on the Sword Coast wasn't great, often stormy, and today was no exception. Thunder rumbled amidst the dark clouds, and looking up from the base of the castle, it seemed as if the only thing left in the world was this towering fortress.
After entering the inner court, they found that there were no guards anywhere, so they had to push open the castle gate themselves.
Just like outside, the castle was also utterly silent. Apodel Adrian didn't seem to find this atmosphere problematic. Instead, he turned to Mars, one of the team members, and said, "This is probably your first time entering the inner court. What are your thoughts?"
"Very disappointed." Mars said, "Firstly, the concentration of knowledge here is not as high as that of the Outer Court, and secondly, it is so easy for an outsider to enter - if I had stayed in Candlekeep, I probably wouldn't be qualified to enter the Inner Court at this age."
"That's still better than me. The first time I entered the inner court was because I was accused of murder and brought here by the monks as a prisoner for execution." Apodel shook his head and asked Emilia, "I thought we had to prepare permission for an alien divine servant and a holy flying elephant. How are they doing?"
"Mellu and Lulu stayed in Eltoril." Emiya scratched his cheek. "--How should I put it? Actually, our team and the Lathander believers don't get along very well. Parting ways may not be a bad thing for both of us."
"No matter what enemy they encounter, they always charge forward, and we have to struggle to pull them back at every turn. We don't get along with them." Higg paused, then nudged Emiya with his elbow mischievously. "We're different. We all know who the enemy is, and then we charge forward with righteous indignation."
"This is also the biggest reason why I am willing to stay in the team." said Elastri.
"You two!" Emilia said angrily. He even began to wonder if the gentle expression on Elastrid's face was a disguise - the elf lady's violent tendencies were clearly among the most violent in the team.
"Force is not a sin." Although Apodel Adrian was a paladin, he was very open-minded about this point. "Back when our team was still together, we used every trick in the book to survive: setting traps in advance and luring the enemy into stepping on them; playing hide-and-seek around the goalposts and doorways.
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