Chapter 182: Kingdom Of The Heavens Astral System
“The loot statistics are out. Do you want to take a look first?” Illyas raised her hand and handed Anse a list.
Anse took it and glanced over it. Besides dozens of muskets, there was nothing particularly noteworthy.
Amn is prosperous, but it couldn’t possibly form a full regiment of musket troops. Overall, it still relied mainly on melee soldier types.
“Keep the magic cannon turrets for now; they might be useful. Hand over the other relatively intact weapon equipment to the Federation; they can be repaired and put to use. Handle the rest for me.” Anse pondered.
The Federation is undergoing military restructuring, dividing into Guard Team and Defense Army, with small-scale expansion, and it just so happens they need a batch of standard weapon equipment.
“No problem.” Illyas nodded slightly.
“What’s the situation on the Beregost side?” Anse changed the topic.
“They’ve temporarily ceased hostilities, and the Wyvern Guard has left too. It’s very strange.” Illyas felt it was somewhat unusual.
From the previous battles, the Emerald Kingdom’s offensives had no strategy; they just relied on numbers to overwhelm, launching incessant assaults until crushing the opponent.
Anse thought for a moment and analyzed, “It’s normal not to fight. The Emerald Kingdom is vast and sparsely populated to begin with, so they don’t lack territory. They don’t lack people either; there are plenty of Dragonborn, so their enthusiasm for invasion isn’t high.
There’s also Candlekeep nailed down to the west; that’s the real threat.”
Candlekeep never actively attacks others, but the people of Abel don’t know that, so they must be quite wary of it.
“Makes sense. Then we can have a few days of peace.” Illyas didn’t even want to deal with Dulag; she just wanted to develop her innate magic and restore her casting ability as soon as possible.
“Not necessarily.” Anse waved his hand dismissively. “The Green Dragon Queen isn’t interested, but other races might not stay quiet. The Beastmen are ambitious and arrogant.
Kobolds have no discipline; they eat wherever they go. If they roam everywhere, that would be quite troublesome too.”
“That’s not a big problem.” Illyas didn’t care.
Issue a few bounties, and the adventurers can handle it.
Anse’s mouth twitched; this was the difference in mindset between an old noble and an ordinary professional.
Nobles are accustomed to allocating resources to solve problems, while ordinary people solve others’ problems to earn resources.
After chatting idly for a few sentences, the two returned to the castle.
Anse borrowed a set of Tarot Cards and two bundles of incense from the butler, and asked him to procure four ivory boards for him.
It’s better to stock up on some materials; they’ll come in handy eventually.
Back in the room, he checked the contents of his Dragonhide Pouch again: a box of gemstones, a box of gold coins, magical items… nothing missing.
Then, he took out the maple leaf-shaped Traveler’s Badge, thought for a moment, set it aside, drew the Mithril Short Sword, and began divining again.
As for why not use the Tarot Cards? It’s a bit more complicated; he hadn’t learned it yet.
Illyas propped her chin nearby, watching him with great interest. She’d seen divination before, but this crude divination method was a first.
Accompanied by a strange fluctuation, the Mithril Short Sword stood steadily upright, then fell limply, with the sword tip generally pointing to the right side.
The blade fell on its own, suspended and unresolved—failure!
“What does this mean?” Illyas asked curiously.
Outsiders can’t judge the result from the divination’s appearance; only the diviner can interpret the omen.
“No result at all.” Anse looked puzzled.
Each additional casting of Augury accumulates a 25% chance of being invalid, but invalid and failure are two different things; their manifestations and feedback differ significantly.
“That’s normal. My mother liked divination; failures were common. Even if it succeeds, you can’t fully trust it.” Illyas said wistfully.
If divination were truly that effective, how could her mother have died?
“True.” Anse put away the short sword and stopped dwelling on it.
The Astral Plane is extremely distant, and Traveler’s Respite is a legendary inn; failure with a Second Ring Augury is too normal.
“I’m starting.”
He nodded to Illyas beside him, picked up the Traveler’s Badge, and began reciting the lengthy command words.
The Traveler’s Badge bloomed with a faint glow, the mana fluctuations growing stronger, peaking after one minute.
A magical aura flashed, and Anse felt the world spinning, his senses lost, time seemingly stretched infinitely.
At one moment, he felt his body lighten, his senses return. Opening his eyes, ahead was an endless silver void, no up or down, dotted with twinkling star points, distant swirling white and gray clouds and light bands.
‘Astral Plane…’ He looked shocked, an indescribable mix of emotions filling him, like an ant—insignificant and humble.
After a long silence, he took a deep breath, then sensed his lungs filling with some “sweet” energy substance, denser than air, but not stifling or choking; his body adapted completely, even liking it a bit.
‘Calm down, calm down; this is the Astral Sea.’ He tried his best to calm his excited emotions.
The Astral Plane is the realm of thought and dreams; here, creatures don’t age, hunger, or thirst, and don’t need to breathe.
The physical rules of the Material Plane hold no meaning here.
Anse scanned around and found himself in a spherical cabin, four or five meters in diameter. Underfoot was a magic array on a round platform of unknown material, behind him a door, in front a hemispherical floor-to-ceiling window; he could touch a layer of transparent energy barrier by raising his hand.
He stepped forward, peering sideways through the barrier, and saw a row of protruding spherical cabins. Through the barriers, he vaguely saw shadow figures flashing inside from time to time.
Turning to look at the other side, his body tensed instantly, scalp numbing.
This was a monstrosity of enormous size, its full form unclear, only visible was its body wrapped in thick, spiky armor shell, with blade-like huge chelicerae, and a long tail sheathed in armor winding through the silver void.
And he was inside this super-giant monstrosity!
‘Impressive, turning the corpse of some Astral Sea giant beast into an inn.’ Anse marveled inwardly; he was probably at the edge of the giant beast’s head, able to see part of its body from the window.
‘Meow, there’s an anti-magic field set up here.’ Mei Fu squatted on the fallen spellbook, her little paws stepping on the Elemental Orb, her cat face full of frustration.
‘This makes it even safer, doesn’t it?’ Anse chuckled lightly, picked up Mei Fu and placed her on his shoulder, then stored the spellbook and Elemental Orb in the Dragonhide Pouch.
‘Meow, I hate this.’ Mei Fu shrank her body, feeling very insecure.
Anse took a deep breath, turned to push the door, but it wouldn’t budge. He pulled, still immovable.
Click click, the strange bird relief on the door suddenly came alive, its body still embedded in the door. It stretched its neck, poked its head outside, and its gemstone-like eyes looked Anse up and down:
“First time here? Let me teach you the rules: pay the entry fee first. No money? Go back where you came from.”
“How much?” Anse hadn’t expected Traveler’s Respite to be so pragmatic; no money meant no entry.
The strange bird glanced at the magic array on the floor: “Kingdom of the Heavens, gold, platinum, gemstones, mithril—anything valuable works.”
“How did you know I came from the Kingdom of the Heavens? Are there many from the Kingdom of the Heavens?” Anse asked curiously.
The Kingdom of the Heavens refers to Toril’s “Forgotten Realms,” also known as the “Kingdom of the Heavens Astral System.”
The Astral System is the Material Plane; each Void represents one world.
If the Astral Sea is the ocean, the Astral System is like corks floating on the ocean—no one knows how many there are.
When Astral travelers approach the Astral System, the Astral Sea’s silver mist gradually thins and dissipates, revealing the Void behind. Then, the Astral System’s sun comes into view. This sun is usually millions of miles away, surrounded by colorful gas clouds, planets, satellites, and other celestial bodies.
Anse also knew a few well-known Astral Systems, like Eberron, Krynn, Wildemount, Gray Dome.
