After sleeping through the night, Vincent rubbed his still-bloodshot eyes and rose from bed.
The whole Bribando city has gradually become quiet, only the gentle cold wind blows in the
cave, and the faint candles in the rooms are scattered all over the city like stars.
The grey dwarves had dark vision. They could see the Outlines of things in a natural night.
Only the magic darkness hid their eyes. But in this way, they could not see any color at all,
except black, white, and their mixture of gray.
Without color, the lives of the gray dwarves would be boring and dull -- they were soldiers
of the underworld, but they were also artists. With their blood-stained hands fighting
monsters, they too carved monumental works of art. Vincent knew very well that in the
basement of the Mages' Guild there were two steel goliths guarding the treasure house, and
that these two statues were the work of the Grey Dwarfs.
However, thousands of years ago, after the punishment of the mainland and the earthly world
was largely razed to the ground, this skill of making goliath was lost to history along with the
glory of the former Great Arcane Master.
The "Law of Creation" in Vincent's hand only introduces the method of using magic to change
the nature of objects, so as to shape new creations, and explains how the original energy of
magic penetrates into the most basic structure of matter and transforms it. Vincent now had
enough material to create a steel golem. But to give the steel golem the power to move, it is
no longer in the "Law of Creation" scroll. The mage learned from the scroll that the power to
create construct creatures and the power to give intelligence to objects are recorded in the
"Higher Creation".
Hardy and Mark brought up two baskets of food and set them on the table in the room,
inviting the Mage to eat. Vincent smiled and sat down happily.
Hardy, however, suddenly leaned close to the mage's ear and whispered, "Be careful, I see
someone watching us."
Vincent said nothing. He tore off a piece of bread and put it gently into his mouth. But by this
time, his eyes were already in a state of insight. Through the layers of floors and walls, Vincent
quietly scanned the surroundings of the Red Mushroom. Two gray dwarves were peeping at
the window of Vincent's room on the corner outside the hotel.
The Wizard smiled faintly, "Don't worry, it's all right. This is also within the expectation."
'Is it? You can think of that too? You're not kidding me, are you?" Hardy shook his head in
disbelief. But his hands and mouth did not stop, and in a few moments half a plate of roast
was stuffed into his belly.
Mark is still smiling happily and quietly eating the portion in front of him.
"Tomorrow or the next day, someone will come looking for us. They don't know what we are
capable of, so they are afraid that we are their enemies. Everyone has enemies in the
Underdark." Vincent said slowly, "We lost everything on the way, but we are a long way from
the Dark Elf city of Prudence, and we can't go there empty-handed. So..."
'So we can make more money from people asking us to solve our problems than we can by
trying to find something to do?' Hardy curled his lips and said disdainfully, "I'm not going to
make any money out of that."
"Oh, you worry too much. You know, Underdark is not your home, and everything is fair
business. Showing strength is the most important weight here; Being mysterious is the only
bargaining tool. I'm just trying to spare us."
"Let's say you're right." "Hardy slurred, shoving half a chicken leg into his mouth.
Sure enough, the next day, the five gray Dwarfs found Vincent's room. One of them, wearing
half armour and looking serious, went up and down to the three Vincent men in a large
number of rooms, and then suddenly changed into a smiling face: "Ha ha ha, welcome,
dearest guests. Welcome to the city of Bribando: the Jewel of the Earth."
"Who are you, please?" "The mage asked, deadpan, as he sat in his chair.
"Aha, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Johnny Seton. I'm one of the archons here. I
walk around here on a normal day. Yesterday, I heard from my neighbor that there were
several guests from other countries in the Red Mushroom Hotel. So I came to see them
today."
"It is the consul of this city. My name is Ka Vincent, and you may call me Vincent if you like. I
have only come to the Underdark as a little experiment, and to see the surroundings."
"You are a travelling adventurer, and it was very wise of you to come and stay with us. But... '
Johnny scratched his cheek with his right hand. "I don't know if you need help with a guest,
but we grey Dwarfs are very hospitable."
Hospitality? Vincent sneers. The Grey Dwarves were indeed very "hospitable" to the victims'
possessions.
"No, there is no need for you to follow me in my dangerous experiments. As a mage, I don't
like to be watched all the time."
"A mage? Johnny was taken aback. In the days after the magic gods died, the number of
mages remained at a very low level. But even so, each mage is still a powerful individual, and
the Mage Guild, which controls most of the advanced magical items on Blasares, does not
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engage in any earthly wars (mainly because no one can invite mages to help, and Mages are
the richest group on the continent), but their power is never diminished.
"Well done, Mage, you're a mage!" Johnny suddenly clapped his hands and jumped. "That'll
solve the North tunnel problem."
Sure enough, he asked for help. Vincent didn't expect it. "We have not come to the Underdark
as a tourist, and we have not come to solve any of your problems." The Mage put on an
expression of deliberate annoyance.
"Oh, I know that. My Lord, oh, Mr. Mage..." The Grey Dwarf stepped forward. "We will make
a proper compensation for this delay in your lordship's time and for the damage you have
caused." His little eyes narrowed and his mouth grinned almost to the end.
Vincent stretched out his golden arm and put it on the table. Although the Master deliberately
lowered it gently, the heavy metal made a thunk as it touched the wooden table.
The eyes of Johnny and the other four gray dwarves widened. They were about to step
forward and touch the strange metal arm to check its texture, but they felt the threat
emanating from Vincent. The next step did not come.
Vincent's right hand scratches a soft grain of sand between his fingers. He had just used the
power of the Eagle, a spell that increases his influence over others, when several of the grey
dwarves were taken by surprise by this sudden "force." This, combined with the long history
of terrifying legends about the mage, had been mistaken for a sense of threat by the Dwarfs.
"What kind of compensation can you offer?
Johnny swallowed. Now he saw clearly that the arm was made entirely of precious pure gold.
If it were worth anything, he would have to sell everything in half the city to get it. The mages
are indeed the richest group on the continent. When someone else installs a prosthetic arm,
he uses a wooden one and wraps it in a bag with a latte. Only rich Kings would make artificial
hands and feet out of gold; And only the dwarves of the surface, the elders of the mythril vein
of Gunn's Hammer, could forge hooks out of mythril alloy for fake hands. But the sorcerer in
front of him made his entire arm out of pure gold!
The Gray Dwarf thought for a moment that there was nothing of value in the city to arouse
the wizard's interest, but Johnny rolled his eyes twice and scratched the beard that hung down
to his chest. "Master, we have here some ancient books of magic, treasures of ancient
magicians. They came from the days when they terrorized the earth. Surely these scrolls and
grimoires can buy you a little of your time?"
"It's just a grimoire. How do I know the magic in it can't be found in the Guild?" Vincent leaned
up to the dwarf and said mysteriously, "I still can't accept this kind of assurance."
"And five thousand precious stones of the highest quality. How about that, Master?"
"Well, tell me what happened in the north cave," Vincent whispered. "Let me hear what
happened..."
Johnny didn't leave until noon. Hardy didn't let them go either, forcing a fine two-handed
sword, but Mark was kind enough to ask for nothing. Vincent sat at the table with his eyes
closed, remembering what the Dwarves had said.
"The cave to the north of us used to be the lower level to the Underdark, and we have a good
vein of silver there. But for some unknown reason, three months ago there began to be a
strange whining noise, a sound like the crowing of a dying rooster. It didn't matter at first, for
such strange noises had become a common occurrence in Underdark. But after a while, we
had less and less silver to dig up. It was not a vein dried up, but the ore which we saw clearly yesterday, hanging on the wall of the stone, will
be gone today. The ore, which used to be rich in silver, has become common stone. We took
a big risk, leaving men there at night, hoping to see what was going on. We didn't think..."
'The guards we sent said they didn't see anything. They had just blinked, or lost their minds
for a moment, and the silver in the veins disappeared and became a heap of useless slag. The
strangest thing is that the guards who came back finally fell ill one by one and are still lying
in their beds unable to get up. Thus one of the largest and richest veins of the land was lost
from our hands. Moreover, we have several customers connected to us along this route. The
Tauren, in particular, buy our products in large quantities every year. But now, no one dares
to go there. Mr. Mage, just help..."
Vincent still sat quietly at the table, tapping the knuckles of his right hand gently on the table,
making a rhythmic sound. After a while he opened his eyes, which had been closed, and
looked through the window of his room at the noisy city of Bribando. His eyes seemed to
Pierce through the layers of rock until they reached the northern passage.
Johnny, on the other hand, came out of the Red Mushroom and quickly told some of the
people who were with him, "You, go find some smart guys and lie down in the sick room.
Pretend to be the guards coming back from the North tunnel, now too weak to speak.
Remember, the mage must not know the truth about what is on the North side. Be smart!
Got it? !"