Equipment Printing School Mage

They were probably in the Air Court of Candlekeep at the moment. Unfortunately, the space here was too vast, and the thick fog made them completely lose track of where they were in the courtyard.

"...these directions all look exactly the same." Emiya frowned. "Where should we go?"

Metatron frowned slightly. "Wonderful. I've never seen this kind of mist before. I haven't traveled much, but it must be harmless."

"The clouds and mist are harmless, but the environment that creates them is problematic," Yin muttered. "The abundance of negative energy has reached a new level."

If it's harmless, then it doesn't matter - as long as you keep going in one direction, you will always find a way out.

They hadn't walked far when they heard the rustling of footsteps in the mist. The footsteps were unusually light, and they just passed by them.

"Hello!" Emilia tried to greet her, but received no response, and the footsteps showed no sign of stopping.

That's it.

He decided to contact Storm Silverhand first to confirm that they wanted to protect the target's safety.

************************

Apodel Adrian had been sitting quietly outside the Central Library for several hours.

Every time he opened his eyes, the sky outside the library grew darker.

At first it was just from day to dusk, and from dusk to night.

But gradually, the darkness grew thicker and thicker, swallowing up all the light. Even the candlelight in the library dimmed silently.

When he looked out and saw only darkness outside the gaping door, he couldn't help but say, "...Lord Kelemvor?"

The black-armored warrior was not far behind Apodel, still diligently flipping through the pages of Candlekeep's past publications. Only when Apodel questioned him did he speak, "You may not believe me, but you must believe in the power of the God of Death. I know my limits."

"That's one thing. Candlekeep is our ally," Apodair retorted. "Whatever your plans, it's inappropriate to act without their knowledge in the heart of Lord Oghma's faith. Even if you succeed in some way, the end result will be contrary to your plan."

"..." Kelanvor was silent for a moment and closed the book. "I've always been bad at speaking."

He pinched the bridge of his nose, then sighed deeply. "You're right. Tonight is the last time. Tomorrow, I will consult with Oghma... Hey, Oghma is the most argumentative god of knowledge in Faerûn..."

How could the God of Death, who has been conversing with wandering souls that have lost their wisdom for years, be a person with sharp words?

At this moment, Apodale suddenly stood up and said, "Someone is coming, but there is no torch."

"Someone else is coming?" Kelemvor's brows knitted together. He stood up and strode towards the door. "I've already put so many obstacles in the way. Why would anyone still come to the Central Library at night?"

Soon, the footsteps grew louder. Just as they were about to enter the door, they suddenly stopped. The person hesitated before the door, then, with a measured pace, ascended the stone steps of the Central Library.

Soon, the figure of the visitor emerged from the black fog.

She was a young, dark-haired mage, her skin slightly tanned from years of adventure, but even so, the roughness of life couldn't hide her youthful beauty.

In short, she looks like a mage adventurer worth a second look.

However, Apodel and Kelanvor fell silent at the same time as they looked at her face.

Strangely, two strong warriors were standing in the way of the female mage, but she completely ignored them and paced at the door awkwardly, not daring to move forward.

Then, her eyes lit up slightly, and she turned to the empty table and asked, "Hello, young gentleman! I... I have a friend who came to Candlekeep looking for a wizard's spellbook. Do you know where he might be?"

Apodale took a deep breath and replied in an almost inaudible voice, "Hello, Miss Seeker of Knowledge. The wizard's spellbooks are all stored on the fifth floor of the Central Library. Turn right here, and there will be stairs at the end of the corridor."

The sound was too quiet for the sorceress to hear. However, she listened attentively to the small table, thanked it as if she had been pardoned, and then ran quickly towards the corridor. However, just as she accelerated, she realized it belatedly and quietly slowed down her pace.

Kelanwo said nothing, but just stood in front of her silently.

The sorceress's movements suddenly became sluggish, losing the freshness she had just possessed. She slowly raised her head and said in a voice as vague as the whistling of the wind, "Please—move—apart—"

"That is impossible," Kelemvor replied.

Then, the Grim Reaper opened his hand towards the woman.

The black fog that covered the sky and the sun suddenly found its direction.

Beneath the earth, the courtyard of air.

All the black fog rolled up at the same time, rushing towards the Central Library.

In just a moment, the density of the black fog in this narrow corridor reached its peak.

The woman's voice became more and more fluent, but her tone became increasingly sharp and angry, like the roar of a banshee: "Get out of the way! Do you want to die?"

"...That's enough." Kelanwo was not angry. Instead, he stretched out his finger with satisfaction and gently touched her forehead.

"Snapped."

With a slight collision sound, the female mage paused and slowly fell to the ground.

Kelemvor waved his hands around, and the black fog that had troubled Candlekeep for many days suddenly dissipated, and the lost light returned to every corner of Candlekeep.

The female mage blinked her eyes, and slowly stood up as if waking up from a dream, making heavy footsteps on the ground.

She looked around in confusion and asked, "...Who are you? Why am I here?"

She looked at the empty table, unable to accept the reality, and murmured, "I remember... just now... there was a little kid here showing me the way...?"

Kelemvor extended his right hand and replied, "Miss Midnight, you have something I have temporarily stored with you. Now, I am here to return it to you."

"...? You know my name? Do we know each other?"

A small ball of silver flame suddenly lit up on the right hand of the Grim Reaper.

He replied: "Not yet."

The next second, silver flames blasted into the female mage's body like a meteor, causing her to stagger back a few steps and fall onto the small table.

Her eyes became even more confused, but soon she slowly stood up, looked at Apodel and Kelemvor, and roared for the first time: "—Kelemvor! What have you done!"

Kelemvor replied grimly, "After you did something foolish, I did everything I could to save you. That's all."

Apodel silently felt the breath of the woman in front of him and shook his head.

The power contained in that ball of silver fire was too little.

Thirty-one distinguished guests

(The settings mentioned in this chapter are all secondary settings, please do not use them as real background references)

"I did something stupid? What stupid thing did I do?!"

The third magic goddess, Midnight, was not at all happy about being resurrected. Instead, she was furious: "I can only be sure of one thing now - you must have messed up all my plans and caused irreversible damage!"

She looked at her paladin with anger. "And, Apodel, how did you and Kelemvor—"

Midnight was halfway through his words when he realized something was wrong.

The Apodel she knew was a young man who, despite having experienced countless battles, remained high-spirited. Baal's divine blood granted him a lifespan far exceeding that of ordinary mortals, causing him to age much more slowly than ordinary humans.

But now, Apodale's hair has turned clearly gray, and time has left clear marks on his face.

"...Is this some kind of disguise?" Midnight's pupils shrank slightly. "Why have you suddenly aged so much?"

"Suddenly?" Apodale repeated the word and shook his head heavily.

"My Lord, the last time we met, I was just over thirty. And now?"

Apodel Adrian pointed out the cruel fact: "This year, I am 124 years old."

"You've been gone for nearly a hundred years."

"...What?" Midnight repeated Apodile's words in shock. "A hundred years!? What a joke! According to my plan... the longest I'll be silent shouldn't be more than a year! Azus... How does Azus do things?!"

"I should be the one asking you this." Kelemvor waved his hand, and a powerful divine force enveloped the three of them in a closed space. "Now it seems that your death was not accidental, but planned? What exactly was your plan with Azuth?"

"It's not complicated." Midnight unconsciously clenched his hands, "I'm tired of being on guard against Xirik and Shar every day, so I decided to teach them a lesson they'll never forget, reduce their divine power, and make my life a little more peaceful.

"I left a loophole in the Kingdom of God—this way, the kingdom that should have been indestructible became invadeable, tempting my enemies to try. If they dare to come, I will detonate this trap—I will be temporarily destroyed, but so will all the invaders.

"My country is too powerful, enough to deter all ambitious people. If I want to make them take the bait, I naturally have to take such a gamble."

"In your estimation, the result should be...?" asked Apodel.

"The invaders will be destroyed along with me. And I will be able to revive quickly thanks to my advance preparations, recovering even faster. At the same time, I will unite with my enemy's enemies and launch a surprise attack before they can recover. Inflict heavy damage on them, and thereby secure peace of mind for centuries, even millennia."

Midnight gritted his teeth. "Even to me, everything seemed to be going smoothly! I severely injured Xirik, and I deliberately used the massive fluctuations of the magic web to completely shatter Shar's Shadow Weave. And now, I've opened my eyes again, only to find that everything has been turned upside down... What happened after my death?"

"It's simple. You trusted the wrong person," Kelemvor said firmly. "Whatever backup plan you had, Azuth has already defected with your power and become a guest of the devil. He probably used your power as a token of his loyalty."

"Varied--"

Midnight was completely stunned by this shocking news. After several seconds, she was completely furious: "Azus betrayed me!? Why?"

Even though this was just Kelanwo's personal opinion and she had no time to verify it, she still subconsciously believed the result.

Kelanvor was about to say something, but then he pursed his lips.

Apodel glanced at him and sighed. "Madam, we have some theories at this point, but most things are still shrouded in mystery. I will only tell you what we know. Azuth, at this moment, and even before, stood with the Demon King Asmodeus. Not long ago, the God of Mages, who had been missing for a hundred years, worked for the demons. This was witnessed by my students, the God of Knowledge, the Goddess of the Moon, the Goddess of the Earth, and the Three Pillars of Justice."

Such a series of heavyweight names are listed, including some of the most reputable people on Toril.

Midnight was silent for a long time, and finally let out a long sigh: "...My original plan was that after my death, Sister Selune would handle related matters for a short period of time. At the same time, the remaining power of my god would be distributed to the Chosen People and Azuth. Azuth would hold the absolute majority. Azuth would regroup his power and allow me to return. After calculations, if all goes well, this process could be shortened to just a few hours or even minutes, at most a few days."

Kelemvor replied, "I think I have been very patient."

She waited patiently for nearly a hundred years, waiting for her backup plan to take effect.

But from now on, it seems that he has too much patience.

"..." Midnight let out a breath, closed his eyes, paused for a moment, and murmured, "...Now, I haven't been resurrected—the return of a god should use extremely concentrated divine power to regenerate a body. The most classic method is based on a residual incarnation or the fusion of divine power fragments. The resurrection of a mortal should call upon the soul, perfect the corpse, and then fuse the two."

"And now I am nothing but a pitiful little ball of silver fire. The power within that silver fire isn't even enough to bestow upon a single chosen one! Even this body is a phantom you forcibly filled with the power of the god of death! I'm not Mystra, the goddess of magic, at all. I'm just a ghost who has acquired her memories and personality! Perhaps somewhere in Faerun, there are other gods doing the same thing!"

"That's none of my business," Kelemvor said coldly. "I want to resurrect Midnight. Mystra has nothing to do with me."

"You...!" Midnight took a few breaths in pain.

She clenched her palms and closed her eyes.

"...I'm sorry, I lost my composure." When she opened her eyes again, she said calmly, "I remember that before I died, I also distributed a lot of divine power and the authority of the magic network to the Chosen... If Azuth betrayed me, then this divine power would likely far exceed what they can bear."

"Yes," Apodel replied. "Storm Silverhand has lost his ability to cast spells, and Simbu has fallen mad. Lord Elminster, however, appears to be fine."

"...That's impossible. Elminster has always been reliable, so I expect his share to be much larger than that of other voters. I'm afraid he's just holding on."

In just a moment, Midnight regained her form: "I have to help them recover, and maybe I can also regain some strength in the process."

***********************

The dark fog is everywhere and I don’t know the way forward.

At this time, what should we do to find a way forward?

Sleeping in such a public place was a bit too radical. Emilia didn't want to wake up the next day to find his bed surrounded by three layers of curious babies.

But in the darkness, there seemed to be no evidence to identify the direction.

But we are still in Candlekeep, and it doesn't seem to make any difference where we go, so there is no need to rush to use magic.

He hesitated, put his sword on the ground, and asked, "--Then use the most traditional method?"

Yin slapped his palm in annoyance and said, "Put it away! We're not so embarrassed that you have to use a throwing stick to ask for directions, are we?"

"How about that?"

Silver pointed at Elastrid and said, "Of course Elastrid should be here at a time like this."

The elf lady looked serious, then drew her weapon and held it in front of her chest.

Emiya held her breath slightly.

I saw Elastri praying lightly and loosening her hands.

pat.

Her weapon fell to the ground and fell in one direction.

"Isn't it the same!" Emilia roared.

"What's that expression on your face? This isn't just a simple "throwing a stick to ask for directions!" Yin said confidently, "This is Tyche's successor's throwing a stick to ask for directions!"

"The key point is that the wrong person was used!?"

Having said that, after walking a few steps, Emilia had to admit that the priests of Tymora were indeed proficient in this.

With a 360-degree angle, Alaster found the most special spot in the outer courtyard of Candlekeep with incredible accuracy—the Emerald Gate leading to the inner court.

Their appearance obviously made the gatekeeper of the Emerald Gate breathe a sigh of relief: this proved that the black fog was at least harmless to the living.

After initially confirming their identities, the gatekeeper told him an unexpected piece of news: Storm Silverhand wanted to see them and said he had a gift for them.