Chapter 100: Knowledge Is Money
The dice’s Detect failed, this is the second time this has happened, the first time was Little Clara’s aunt Dorothea Tethyngir.
‘Could it be a prophecy wizard again, can he still cast spells?’ Anse wondered in his heart, but he didn’t think it was appropriate to ask directly.
“You’re right, but their progress is very fast, and there are many commendable aspects to the current Scarred Sorcerers.” Italo smiled slightly, but his silver-gray eyes were like an ancient well, without the slightest ripple.
Anse’s eyes flickered slightly, it seems Candlekeep’s news is not closed off, they might know something about the Magic Net disruption.
“Reader, if I may be so bold to ask, what’s wrong with the Magic Net?”
“I don’t know.” Italo answered very straightforwardly, his weathered voice carrying a hint of helplessness.
“Alright.” Anse wanted to know if the Goddess of Magic was still around, but he wasn’t sure whose follower the Reader was, and asking directly might offend him.
“Candlekeep is also investigating, but after the Magic Net disruption, many passages to the Outer Planes have become extremely unstable, the Astral Sea is even more dangerous, and cross-plane travel is difficult.” Italo explained.
“I see.” Anse nodded silently.
The Gods live in the Outer Planes, Tyr and Lothander’s abodes are on Mount Celestia, Shar is in the Abyss, the Goddess of Magic Mystra and the God of Knowledge Oghma are in the Astral Sea.
“Reader, what are you here for this time?” He was very curious about this.
“To gain more revelations.” Italo’s eyes were vacant, and after saying this, he actually zoned out.
Anse was helpless, this Italo spoke in halves, more like a Cleric than a Scholar.
But he probably understood some of it, Candlekeep didn’t send troops, the Reader came to investigate the situation.
Although Candlekeep is called the most impregnable fortress on the Faerun continent, it has too few people, mainly relying on powerful magic protections and an immortal ancient Silver Dragon ghost.
Its leadership’s magic abilities are also very strong, but in these times, the situation may be different, and those powerhouses’ circumstances are probably not good.
“Do you have business with me?” He got straight to the point, not wanting to tangle with a riddle-master.
“Yes.” Italo’s gaze focused on Anse, he waved his hand, and a large tome and a floating feather quill appeared on the table.
“Anse, I want to make a transaction with you, the content is your understanding, insights, and application techniques of spells.”
Anse gave a dry laugh, very surprised: “I’m a Sorcerer, my understanding of spells is very shallow, what I’m best at is using them.”
“Don’t sell yourself short, being able to apply spells to your level, I haven’t seen many even after decades of experience.” Italo’s face was full of smiles, he pointed to the feather quill, “This Arcane Scribing Quill can automatically record your thoughts and insights.
But rest assured, it won’t pry into your thoughts and emotions, it will only record around one spell or topic at a time.
Believe me, this knowledge is very important for those Spellcasters still lost in confusion.”
A Sorcerer’s Innate Magic also falls under the Arcane scope, although very different from conventional Spell Models, the underlying logic is similar, different paths to the same goal, with some reference value.
Moreover, spell application techniques are largely similar, this experience can help Spellcasters avoid many detours.
“Mm.” Anse composed his expression, his face becoming serious, “What can I get?”
It wasn’t that he was stingy, there was no concept of copyright in this world, Candlekeep was the biggest knowledge monopoly institution.
What if he taught others, and those Spellcasters used the techniques against him?
“You can ask for anything you want.” Italo’s expression didn’t change, as if it was a trivial matter.
“I lack many things, but I can’t say all at once, what can you give me?” Anse didn’t feel the slightest bit embarrassed, knowledge is money, no one can get it for free from him.
Italo waved his hand, and several Magical Items appeared on the table.
The subtle Mana fluctuations made Anse’s heart tremble, his expression calm, but his eyes full of expectation.
“I came out in a hurry and didn’t bring too many things.” Italo smiled, “Let me introduce them, these Gemstones are called Aetherium Stones, each with different functions…”
Anse knew about Aetherium Stones, a type of stone named after the God of Knowledge and Prophecy Aen, there are many kinds, different Aetherium Stones have different colors, appearances, and abilities.
There is the Toughness Stone with Constitution +2, the Life-Sustaining Stone that requires no food or drink, the Regenerating Stone that restores Life… after Attunement, gain the related buffs, and they orbit and Flight around the head.
The several Aetherium Stones in Italo’s hand were all Attribute buffs, which would give him little improvement, because Aetherium Stones’ Attribute cap is 20.
Besides Aetherium Stones, the other Magical Items were all Uncommon Quality, second only to Legendary, each worth tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of Gold Coins.
Candlekeep is truly wealthy.
Anse picked up the Regenerating Ring that can regrow limbs, restoring 1d6 Life every 10 minutes, examined it for a moment, then put it down.
“I hate Attunement.” He complained helplessly.
Italo smiled knowingly, nodding deeply in agreement.
“How to calculate the value?” Anse decided to ask clearly first, then consider which Magical Item to choose, “For example, how much is the insight of a First Ring Spell worth? Or, how many spells for one Uncommon Quality Magical Item?”
“One for all the spells you know, plus your understanding, development, and utilization of Arcane and Innate Magic.” Italo replied immediately, clearly having planned this out.
Relatively speaking, spells have higher value, in terms of Arcane understanding, no one surpasses Wizards.
Anse decisively shook his head: “Then at most twelve ring-level spells from me, plus two Cantrips.”
“Hm?” Italo was somewhat surprised and doubtful, “Of course that’s fine.”
In his estimation, a Sorcerer just entering the elite stage knowing ten spells would already be very good.
“Deal then?” Anse probed.
“No problem, let me teach you how to use the scribing quill…” Italo instructed very carefully, also to dispel Anse’s wariness.
Anse was very cooperative, such an opportunity was rare.
He wasn’t sure if a Sorcerer’s insights were valuable, but he knew Candlekeep didn’t have to have him, there were many Sorcerers in Faerun, probably many geniuses had already figured out Mana Casting techniques, he was just a bit ahead.
Moreover, what he gave were mostly First Ring Spells, including spells like Command and Holy Slash that Wizards were destined never to learn.
There was only one Second Ring Spell, the Dragonblood Sorcerer’s innate Dragon Breath.
He wasn’t willing to give higher, he didn’t want others to understand him too well. Anyway, First and Second Ring Spells were just transitional, low research cost, even if aiding the enemy it was fine.
A few minutes later, Anse sat quietly in front of the large tome, eyes focused, memories related to spells constantly surfacing in his mind.
And the scribing quill danced shadows on the book, so fast it blurred, only seeing lines of text appearing rapidly on the paper, countless times faster than a printer.
After more than two hours, the scribing quill finally stopped.
Anse also let out a heavy breath, leaning back and collapsing onto the sofa.
This work wasn’t easy.
Italo picked up the large tome, flipping through page by page, occasionally glancing up at Anse, his expression changing repeatedly.
How is there Holy Slash too? How are they all First Ring Spells? Oh, and a Dragon Breath…
But he still felt it was a great value, every spell insight inside was solid gold, standard, precise, rigorous, maybe not flexible enough, but no flaws could be found.
This also showed that Anse hadn’t taken a single detour, simply unprecedented.
After a long time, Italo snapped the book shut, his eyes flickering: ‘Truly unbelievable, his Bloodline… must be extraordinary.’
Thinking it over, it seemed only this explanation fit.
He recalled the scene earlier of Anse turning into a dragon, that strange scale color was somewhat like the Legendary Platinum Dragon God Bahamut.
“Reader, what do you think?” Anse asked softly, a bit worried the other might renege.
Italo came back to his senses, resuming his calm ancient-well demeanor, praising: “Very good, go ahead and pick, I allow you to choose two.”
“Ah, thank you.” Anse went with the flow, he wouldn’t be polite.
