Chapter 344: [Disguise Self] and Water Beast Expulsion

After determining the three shops of key concern, Gao De directly let the errand boys who helped him watch other shops transfer their energy to these three shops in the following time.

Afterwards, after settling the wages for the errand boys on a daily basis, he left first.

Gao De already had a preliminary draft in his heart for the next planning and arrangement.

The training assessment was passed smoothly, which means he could earn military merit by taking missions.

Gao De's idea was also very simple: first take a mission located outside Ducheng, and take the opportunity of the mission to temporarily leave Ducheng.

And when performing the mission, he could return to the northern realm through the astral portal, take some more supernatural materials from Phoenix to exchange for the funds needed to purchase the shop.

However, even if he sold supernatural materials in cities outside Ducheng, with the ability of the Sea Sentinels, if they wanted to investigate, there would definitely be traces to follow.

Therefore, when trading, necessary disguise is still needed.

According to Gao De's thinking, it is best to obtain the spell formula for 【Disguise Self】 and master this spell as soon as possible.

Ordinary disguise, where can it be as direct and effective as a spell?

And it is not just trading; there are many other aspects of life where 【Disguise Self】 can be used.

Therefore, after leaving the restaurant, Gao De went straight to the Arcane Secret Treasury belonging to the Ducheng official.

The Ducheng Arcane Secret Treasury is located in the most prosperous city center area of Ducheng, and it is on the most prosperous section of Regent Street in the city center.

Under normal circumstances, the spell formulas that the official will take out for sale are ordinary spell formulas, and they are usually general spells and functional spells that do not have lethality.

This is also the reason why Gao De has not been in a hurry to buy spell formulas since he came to Ducheng.

In a world of knowledge monopoly, knowledge that can be taken out for sale is not very valuable.

Rare spells or damage spells are absolutely non-sale items.

However, 【Disguise Self】 is only a functional spell of the Illusion school, so there is still a chance to buy it in the Arcane Secret Treasury.

But what disappointed Gao De was that although there were more than ten types of 1st Circle spell formulas provided in the Arcane Secret Treasury, they just didn't include 【Disguise Self】.

However, holding the idea that he had already come, Gao De took down 【Rapid Excavation】 and 【Comfortable Sleep】 that he had not yet mastered.

【Rapid Excavation】 (Transmutation, 1st Circle):

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

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

In addition to this ordinary usage, this spell can also dig a 5-foot-deep pit under the creature's feet. Medium or smaller creatures on the pit will fall to the ground unless they react in time.

When a pit is dug through this spell, you can choose to let the excavated sand and debris erupt violently. This cloud of dust will provide a short-term shielding effect for the area where the land is excavated and the adjacent area.

The Rapid Excavation spell has no effect on hard rock or earth elemental creatures.

【Comfortable Sleep】 (Necromancy, 1st Circle):

You can cast this spell when you are about to rest. When affected by this spell, the subject will enjoy a comfortable sleep on a quiet night.

During comfortable sleep, the subject's natural healing speed of injuries will be doubled.

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

The healing brought by the effect of comfortable sleep is regarded

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

Not to mention the effect of doubling the natural recovery speed of injuries, the mere fact that it allows the subject to enter a comfortable state of sleep without pain or side effects is already quite commendable.

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

Although magic users possess supernatural power, they are still human and can also suffer from the trouble of insomnia.

A sleep spell with no side effects—what else is there to say? Learn it!

As for 【Rapid Excavation】, for Gao De personally, there shouldn't be many occasions to use it.

But for the Northern Realm, for Phoenix, this is a divine skill to accelerate infrastructure and farming progress.

Must acquire it.

A very convenient point about big cities is that when these common, general-purpose spell formulas are sold, they usually come with corresponding pre-mixed spell potions, which buyers can choose to purchase additionally as needed.

Since there are ready-made potions, Gao De naturally bought them as a package.

It is worth mentioning that the individual price of the spell formula is 25 Jin Quehua coins, and the corresponding individual price of the spell potion is 42 Jin Quehua coins.

But if purchased as a package, it only costs 65 Jin Quehua coins, a discount of 2 gold.

Two sets of spell formulas plus potions cost Gao De another 130 gold.

That is already equivalent to the price of a quarter of a shop.

For magic users learning spells, besides the difficulty of constructing the spell model itself, this learning cost is also a major limitation on a magic user's mastery of spells.

This is also one of the reasons why commoner magic users find it hard to get ahead.

The profession of magic user, besides requiring talent, is truly too money-burning; if one is not a noble, how can one afford to burn it?

Failing to buy 【Disguise Spell】, Gao De could only give up for now and return to the dormitory to continue his daily cultivation and the learning of new spells.

Early the next morning, when the sunlight had just spilled onto the street through the mottled leaves, he was called down by Master Naxi.

Yesterday, Captain Luo Er had asked Gao De to follow Naxi to see him when he had time, so Master Naxi simply chose today.

Riding a carriage all the way to the front of Captain Luo Er's mansion, it was a typical Dorn-style building, large in scale, multi-story design, with prominent towers, red brick walls partially paired with plaster carved bands with delicate patterns, and colored glazed tiles.

In front of the cast-iron gate, Gao De and Master Naxi got off the carriage, and led by the butler in a black uniform and white gloves who had been waiting at the door, they walked along the cobblestone path to the spacious and bright reception hall to meet Captain Luo Er.

He was standing by the window, admiring the scenery of the small garden outside, and after hearing footsteps, he slowly turned around.

"Master Luo Er." Master Naxi walked up, bowed slightly, his tone carrying a hint of respect.

"Captain Luo Er." Gao De also followed suit and saluted.

Captain Luo Er smiled, glanced at Gao De, and then said: "Naxi is your guiding master, and I was Naxi's guiding master back then. With this connection, that is why I asked Naxi to bring you over to let me see you when he had time."

"Gao De, this counts as our first formal meeting. As an elder, I should have prepared a meeting gift for you, but I think you would prefer it if I prepared a gift according to your needs, so..."

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

Upon hearing this, Gao De did not answer immediately, but turned his head to look at Master Naxi.

Master Naxi smiled slightly at Gao De, "What Master Luo Er is giving you is a meeting gift for a junior; don't be polite, just say whatever you need."

Gao De thought for a moment and asked hesitantly: "Is a spell formula okay?"

"Naturally, that is fine, but for those that are too rare, even I cannot easily pass them on to outsiders," Captain Luo Er stated in advance.

Gao De's spirits lifted upon hearing this, and he hurriedly said: "Is the spell formula for 【Disguise Spell】 okay?"

The 【Disguise Spell】 formula is not common, but it definitely cannot be considered rare, so it is highly likely that it is acceptable.

And the facts were indeed so.

Captain Luo Er gave an order to the butler behind him, and after a while, the butler walked back holding a parchment scroll, came before Gao De, bowed slightly, and handed the scroll to him.

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

Captain Luo Er said with a smile: "【Disguise Spell】 itself is not a rare spell, but for us Hai Shao Bing magic users who often need to go out to execute missions, it is indeed used quite often."

"Sometimes it is even more practical than damage spells, but it is also easily used by magic users with ill intentions to do improper things or create chaos. Out of this consideration, the authorities have listed 【Disguise Spell】 among the controlled spells. You kid have an eye for things."

No wonder I didn't see 【Disguise Spell】 in the Dorn Arcane Secret Vault; so that was why. Gao De suddenly realized.

After giving the meeting gift, Captain Luo Er began to reminisce with Master Naxi, occasionally taking the opportunity to point out one or two things to Gao De regarding precautions or certain secrets within the Sentinels.

The most useful point was: when accepting missions, one must act according to one's ability.

According to Captain Luo Er, a failed mission on one's record cannot be offset by ten successful missions.

At the same time, when he said this, he also hinted extremely obscurely: "Some people use this point to suppress their colleagues. When accepting missions, you must be sure to screen them."

Although Captain Luo Er spoke very tactfully, Gao De instantly grasped his meaning:

There are nobles who specifically customize "trap" missions in the Sentinels that look ordinary but actually have ulterior motives; if one accepts such a mission, one will likely be set up.

"However, you can rest assured that the extermination missions issued by our Sentinels are all pre-assessed and judged, and there will basically be no missions that are completely impossible to complete," Captain Luo Er added.

"If such a mission really appears, even if it fails, after review and assessment, it will be determined as incorrect mission intelligence and will not be recorded as a mission failure on your record."

Gao De nodded slightly upon hearing this.

The Sentinels' meaning is also very simple: if the extermination mission they issue is a bit trickier than the intelligence suggests, that is a normal situation, and failing to complete it is a matter of your ability.

But if it exceeds it by too much, then it is not your business.

After chatting for nearly half an hour, Naxi proposed to take his leave.

"Preparing to go back or?" After the two left Captain Luo Er's mansion and called for a carriage, Master Naxi asked.

Gao De thought for a moment and unfolded the spell formula he had just obtained from Captain Luo Er.

【Disguise Spell】 (Illusion School, 1st Circle):

You change yourself as well as your personal clothing, armor, weapons, and all belongings. This effect ends when the spell terminates (one hour) or when you actively dispel it.

To the naked eye, your height can increase or decrease by 1 foot, and your physique can be fat, thin, or well-proportioned, but you cannot change the shape of your body, so the form you transform into must have limbs or a similar physiological structure.

The changes produced by this spell cannot withstand physical inspection. For example, if you use this spell to add a hat, then the real object will pass through the hat, and anyone who touches the hat will feel nothing or will touch your head and hair; if you use this spell to make yourself thin, and someone touches you with their hand, their hand will look as if it is touching the air.

His gaze quickly scanned the spell effects and landed on the spell potion formula below.

Then he discovered that although Disguise Spell is controlled and difficult to obtain, the raw materials required for its spell potion are still quite common and can be easily bought.

"I plan to go to the magic materials shop first to buy the raw materials needed for the Disguise Spell potion."

"Then I'll take you; get in the carriage," Master Naxi said.

With a ride available, Gao De did not stand on ceremony with Master Naxi and gladly agreed.

After getting in the carriage, Naxi thought for a moment and still spoke to Gao De: "The reason Master Luo Er wanted to give you a meeting gift is only a very small part because he was my guiding master; the more important reason is that during your training assessment, he knew your assessment subject had been changed at the last minute, yet he called away me, the only one who could speak up for you."

"This is actually a form of apology."

"Of course, with his status, he naturally wouldn't use the word 'apology' toward you, so it's called a meeting gift, but the meaning is the same."

"So that's how it is." Gao De finally understood why Captain Luo Er was so generous to him.

After all, the price of a common 1st-circle spell formula is as high as 25 gold, not to mention a spell formula like 【Disguise Spell】 that is listed as controlled.

There was no need to visit more shops; Gao De bought all the raw materials needed for the 【Disguise Spell】 potion at the first magic materials shop, spending another 43 Jin Quehua coins.

After saying goodbye to Master Naxi, he thought about it and still did not go back, but turned to the Sea Abyss White Tower.

Entering the first-floor hall of the magic tower, Gao De came to the crystal board.

Since he was already out, he might as well see if there were any suitable missions.

Because military merit can be exchanged for many good things and is also related to the most important year-end evaluation, it is actually very competitive among Hai Shao Bing magic users; everyone is fighting to accept and complete missions.

Under normal circumstances, once an extermination mission is released, it will inevitably be taken within one to three days at most.

Some easy-to-do missions might even disappear in seconds.

This also caused the missions listed on the crystal board to appear somewhat sparse, with not many at all.

And the 1st-circle magic user rank limited the scope of missions Gao De could accept.

Therefore, his gaze scanned all the way down, almost to the bottom, and he had not yet found even one mission he could accept.

Competition should have existed when accepting missions.

If it was as he thought, those noble magic users must also have arrangements here at the magic tower, able to discover and accept suitable extermination missions at the first opportunity.

And commoner magic users like him who refused recruitment could only pick up the "leftovers."

Gao De browsed the mission list while thinking.

Finally, at the very end of the crystal board, he saw a mission he could accept.

【Lagos City Water Beast Expulsion】:

Location: Makoko District, Lagos City

Specific situation: Residents of Makoko District have reported multiple times that groups of magic octopuses and foul-smelling water salamanders have been discovered in the water area, seriously affecting daily life, and magic users are needed to clear and expel them.

Note: Magic octopuses and foul-smelling water salamanders are low-rank water beasts; even the leader's strength generally does not exceed the 1st circle.

Mission difficulty: Relatively low; a 1st-circle magic user can accept this mission.

A water beast expulsion mission, and a 1st-circle water beast expulsion and clearing mission at that, should be the simplest and most common mission.

However, Gao De did not accept the mission immediately.

Because the missions on the crystal board are arranged in the order of release time, this means this mission was the earliest released among all the missions listed on the board.

He looked at the release time again; it was actually seven days ago.

Why has such a seemingly simple mission been hanging there for seven days without anyone accepting it?

Nine times out of ten, there is some hidden story behind this mission.

With Captain Luo Er's advice in mind, Gao De dared not be reckless.

(End of chapter)