Chapter 8: Free Holy Water, Malice

The Bard Spell from Mu Yan was still effective even now; when Xia Duo was moving barrels in the wine cellar, it was not as strenuous as it had been in the past, and he was able to move them out easily by himself.

And when he carried a barrel near the counter, he happened to hear Lao Nier boasting to a few Adventurers that his son would soon be joining the Mage Tower and might even become a real Mage in the future.

Hahaha—

The Adventurers clearly did not believe that Xiao Nier would become a Mage so easily, and they all began to laugh. Lao Nier was not annoyed; instead, he used Xia Duo for comparison, "Look at Xia Duo, he is so old, yet he still thinks he has the talent to become a Mage. My Xiao Nier is only 16 years old; who can say for sure what the future holds!"

"Oh? Xia Duo, you also went to participate in the Mage Tower assessment?" A familiar Adventurer happened to see Xia Duo, so he waved and asked.

Xia Duo moved the barrel behind Lao Nier, and only after lifting it onto the shelf with Lao Nier and setting it steady did he reply: "I just went to try my luck; who knows, maybe some Mage lord might take a liking to me! A person should always have some dreams, right."

Mentioning dreams perhaps touched a soft spot in the hearts of these Adventurers. Since they had chosen to become Adventurers, they were more or less dissatisfied with the status quo of their lives and had some unrealistic pursuits.

Hearing the word "dream" at this moment, they all felt a bit emotional, and one by one, they fell silent. "Lao Nier, bring me a bottle of gold rum."

"Bring me one too; today is Midsummer Festival, drinking ale is too boring." Several Adventurers ordered gold rum.

Lao Nier hurriedly fetched the drinks for everyone, his face beaming with joy. Ale was only 5 Copper per glass, but a bottle of gold rum sold for 10 Gold Coins, and this bottle could only fill a little more than one wooden cup from the shop.

Usually, these Adventurers would not be willing to drink such expensive liquor. Thinking of this, Lao Nier looked at Xia Duo again; at this moment, Xia Duo was already cleaning up the tables left by those customers.

Lao Nier narrowed his eyes, seemingly having made up his mind, while Xia Duo, with his back to Lao Nier, clearly felt a malicious gaze from behind under the enhancement of the Bard Spell.

He sighed silently in his heart, his hands not stopping. Xia Duo had already decided to leave the inn as soon as possible, but the problem was how to spend the three days waiting for the assessment results. In terms of familiarity with Savile Town, a hundred Xia Duos could not compare to Lao Nier.

As for leaving the town, Xia Duo had never even considered it. In the town, Lao Nier might still have some scruples, but if he were outside the town, there would truly be no way out.

Furthermore, Goblins and beasts often roamed outside the town like weeds; encountering them would be a trouble, and if he were unlucky enough to run into an Orc, it would be better to work as a black-market laborer in Lao Nier's inn. Only by staying alive does one have hope.

Xia Duo could not understand why Lao Nier was willing to send his own child to the Mage Tower but was unwilling to accept Xia Duo joining the Mage Tower as well. Did he not know that having more friends means having more paths?

Or was it that he believed Xia Duo had not the slightest hope of becoming a Mage?

If he could choose whether to transmigrate, Xia Duo would rather choose not to, but if he could choose the method of transmigration, Xia Duo would certainly choose to soul-transmigrate into an underage Noble descendant.

In that case, his situation would at least be better than it was now, and it would be easier to come into contact with Magic.

Although the assessment personnel at the Mage Tower did not refuse Xia Duo from taking the assessment because of his age, Xia Duo could still feel their disapproval in their expressions and demeanor.

But so what? Having transmigrated to this world, Xia Duo knew deeply that if one could not grasp power, one was no different from grass; one could be slapped to death at any moment by some drunk Adventurer, killed by a Spell from a passing Mage, or even encounter Goblins or Orcs when occasionally leaving town.

In short, without grasping power, one could never control one's own destiny and could only drift with the changes of the outside world. Xia Duo did not want to look back in the future and regret giving up now.

In Faerûn, in the Empire, the only thing that could be called power was Magic (Divine Magic also counted, but Xia Duo could not identify with the Doctrine of those gods from the bottom of his heart, and thus could not become a Cleric to master Divine Magic power).

The Mage Tower assessment was an opportunity, and the Bard Mu Yan was also an opportunity; Xia Duo naturally was unwilling to give up easily.

……

Savile Town on Midsummer Festival was much livelier than usual. Most Adventurers would not choose to go on missions on this day, but instead stayed in town to enjoy the joyful atmosphere of the festival; of course, this was only a secondary reason.

The real reason was that on Midsummer Festival, the Radiant Servants of Amanata would distribute Holy Water for free in the town square after the festival. This kind of Holy Water, which could heal certain minor wounds and deal heavy damage to evil creatures, usually cost at least 25 Gold Coins for a small bottle.

But today, because of the festival activities, Amanata would bestow extra radiance, and the Radiant Servants would collect the radiance bestowed by the god to make Holy Water, distributing it on the spot to the people participating in the festival.

Otherwise, what else could make these money-grubbing Adventurers waste a day of hunting time just to play for a day? Clearly, that was not it.

Near evening, there were not many customers left in the Old Neil Inn because the Midsummer Festival celebration was about to end. This was the last chance to participate in the festival; once the sun set, the opportunity to receive Holy Water would be lost.

Anyone who attempted to muddle through would not escape the eyes of justice of the Law Guardians of Amanata; those caught would be subjected to Flogging and banned from participating in the evening bonfire party.

Therefore, everyone who wanted to obtain free Holy Water would not miss the timing, including Lao Nier.

However, this had nothing to do with Xia Duo. After the customers left, the messy scene left behind still needed to be cleaned up by Xia Duo and the others; even Xiao Nier and Aunt Susan were kept behind.

……

At night, accompanied by the intense revelry of the crowd outside, Xia Duo returned to a small cubicle on the second floor of the inn. This had been his residence for over half a year. At this moment, the enhancement effect of the Bard Spell had disappeared, but he did not feel tired.

Clearly, this kind of Spell did not overdraw the body's potential, but replaced it with another magical, imperceptible power. This was Magic. At this moment, Xia Duo longed for this power more than ever.

Thinking of the Mage Tower assessment, Xia Duo judged based on his own experience that as long as one was not rejected on the spot, the final result should be a pass. After all, those assessment personnel had already seen the assessment process and should have some measure in their hearts.

After all, they were originally recruiting servants. For the Mage Tower, if there were good seedlings among the servants, it was naturally gratifying, but if not, it was no loss. Where else could one find servants for only 100 Gold Coins for 3 years?

This was even less than the 1 Silver Coin per day Xia Duo earned at the Old Neil Inn. If it were not for the opportunity to learn Magic, who would be willing to be a servant!

Those who participated in the assessment at the same time as Xia Duo were not aiming to make money at all; instead, they were prepared to spend more money just so the path of Magic could be a bit smoother.

Although Xia Duo already had a premonition about whether he could join the Mage Tower, he still had not received the official result, so he still felt a bit uncertain in his heart. However, from Lao Nier's malicious gaze today, Xia Duo felt a bit more confident about joining the Mage Tower.