Chapter Ninety-Four: Level Two

“Heh. It is rare to meet someone who is both a mage and a priest. How could I not take a proper interest?” said Mage Ryan, his bearing as elegant as ever, like that of a nobleman.

Zhao Xu was not surprised. The moment he had cast the divine spell Sanctified Domain, he had no intention of hiding it from this mysterious man before him.

Mage Ryan lifted his head and gazed at the pitch-black ceiling of the tunnel. The skin of his exposed neck was now completely covered in black scales, like charred rock after molten lava had gone cold.

“I once longed so desperately to take a level of priest, just so I could advance smoothly into Rune Guardian,” Ryan said suddenly, lowering his head to stare at Zhao Xu with a ferocious expression. “Why did the goddess not grant me that chance? What was lacking in my faith? Why, when you had done nothing at all, could you so easily become one of her priests?”

Zhao Xu, having already resolved to use his trump card, felt no trace of nervousness now, even though Mage Ryan looked half like a demon.

“You’re asking me? Who am I supposed to ask?” Zhao Xu replied indifferently. He faintly sensed that Ryan’s mental state was somewhat off.

A calm mage was far more terrifying than a mad one.

“Heh. Seems no one ever explained to you just how powerful this advancement into Rune Guardian truly is.” Ryan suddenly bowed his head in annoyance, thrusting both hands into his hair and gripping it hard.

His originally thin, typical mage’s hands had already swollen under the侵蚀 of infernal power, the muscles bulging with black scales.

“Why is it that people like you, ignorant and clueless, can somehow become candidates for Rune Guardian, while someone like me, kneeling day and night beneath the deity’s statue and begging in vain, cannot even cross the threshold?”

Mage Ryan suddenly lifted his head and let out an enraged roar.

Zhao Xu nearly activated his own power in response, but even after the roar had faded, his spell identification skill showed no reaction at all.

So that was the reason he needed a level in priest?

Zhao Xu thought to himself, though he also felt the urge to complain about whether they were actually going to fight or not.

Then, suddenly, Mage Ryan’s attention fell on the staff in Zhao Xu’s hand.

“A warding staff, no less. Even low-level novices of second or third rank can now go out carrying something so expensive? Which mage school or church is rich enough to allow that?”

At those words, Zhao Xu was already certain in his heart that this mage must be somewhat unhinged.

He just did not know whether it was because of the abyssal power’s corruption, or because he had been trapped here too long and gone insane.

Given Ryan’s strength, there was no need for him to play games, yet he had only now begun analyzing Zhao Xu’s staff.

Even for an arrogant mage, that was not normal.

By the intelligence mages possessed in abundance, if one could not immediately see through such things and react at once, then one truly deserved to be thrown to the dogs.

That was also what made Arthur so troublesome: in battle, he crushed people not only with spells, but with intellect as well.

“You’re relying on this staff to bring this group of rookies in here to explore, aren’t you?” Ryan asked, nodding as he scrutinized him. “Seeing the altar outside, you still dared to come in, all because of the staff’s banishment spell. Even if a demon truly appeared inside, you could still take a gamble with that spell. It’s a pity you ran into me...”

Hearing that, Zhao Xu could only smile wryly. Banishment was effective against demons and other otherworldly beings, but the half-infernal creatures before him counted as local outsiders, and so they fell outside the spell’s range.

Still, Zhao Xu’s confidence now did not rest on the warding staff. He simply could not quite grasp the thought process of the mage before him.

Was he trying to shake Zhao Xu’s confidence with words first? There was really no need for that; the level gap was already crushingly wide.

Yet the weaker side always had to understand the stronger side’s thinking before acting.

At that moment, Zhao Xu also made up his mind to go back and study properly. If he did not reach level 9, he really would not come out into the wider world to wander about again, lest he keep running into such high-level mages and find himself unable to use his strength.

“The staff’s other spell, Ward Against the Living, ensures that none of you can be touched by any creature aside from the undead and the like, and naturally they cannot attack you either. But I am also a mage, one capable of casting spells above fourth level. I need not enter the ward to wipe you all out. What exquisite mockery of fate. Could it be the goddess herself arranged this, to let me slaughter one of her priests and vent the rage in my heart?” Mage Ryan suddenly fell into self-admiration.

“Then give it a try,” Zhao Xu said.

Soon enough, they would see whether Mage Ryan before him was truly level 17.

An Qinuoya’s gift was far too powerful; so powerful that he did not dare use it casually. If it were only an item on the level of this staff, he would already have slammed it into the other man’s face.

As for an item like the candle of prayer, he had no confidence that he could successfully use it in front of such a high-level mage.

“Though I very much want to kill you,” Mage Ryan said softly, “I can also let you go.”

“Conditions?” Zhao Xu asked at once.

From this encounter, he knew that this mage must be hiding some secret, but lacking clues, he could not see through it. The various knowledge checks he had just attempted had basically all failed.

“There are seven people lying here. You only need to kill three of them, and I will let you and the remaining four leave. I will even give you a precious magic item,” Ryan said with a low, rasping laugh.

Zhao Xu gave a cold smile. What a fine scheme.

Among the seven lying there, four were players and three were the local natives of Arthur.

Killing the players did not matter, since they would simply revive anyway. They might even receive a magic item and perhaps unlock a hidden quest branch right away. By that measure, it was a rather profitable deal. That was the thinking of some players.

“You must be Earth adventurers, yes? I have been kept here for too long, and had no idea so many things had happened outside,” Ryan continued. “How interesting. So you projection types have five chances to revive. Then it matters even less.”

“The rule is that someone must die once you enter here. I cannot break it. And you need not worry about the anger of the three who die; I can give you more treasure, and if you distribute it among them, their resentment can be soothed.”

Zhao Xu looked at Mage Ryan and sank into deep confusion.

The other man was saying far too much, so much that Zhao Xu himself had already caught a faint thread of the truth.

At that moment, Zhao Xu shifted his attention to the man’s attire. The remark about having been “kept here for a long time” reminded him that perhaps Mage Ryan before him was not as free as he had imagined.

But where was the flaw?

If he could outwit and take down a restricted high-level mage, then on returning he would basically be guaranteed a direct promotion to level 9, would he not?

Unfortunately, Mage Ryan’s robe was not of the same style as his, nor did it resemble the robes of the high-level mages Zhao Xu had seen in the floating city; it was only somewhat similar. Otherwise, from that line about pleading bitterly before the goddess, Zhao Xu had almost suspected that the man might share the same origins as himself.

Forget it. He would simply fling a spell at him and test the waters for now. If he really managed to knock the other man down directly, then that would be a windfall.

Zhao Xu immediately began chanting, but a message suddenly flashed across his interface:

Adventurer Midsummer, you are now eligible to advance to level 2. Please allocate your skill points and unlearned feats as soon as possible.