“Look, Master Moke. If you have extra time, please help me to establish 10 Wards of Bad Luck within the tower…”
“Wards of Bad Luck?” Moke asked in surprise.
Actually, before he went to Lin Li, he had decided to put up some low-grade mageweaths for Lin Li as the Supreme Council did not specify the grade of the mageweaths he had to use. Since Lin Li did not look like a man who would have much knowledge about Inscription, he would not be able to notice that the mageweaths had low quality…
However, Moke did not expect that the fella would be so dumb. Ward of Bad Luck was the simplest entry-level mageweath. Not to mention this Master of Inscription, even his weakest students would be able to create quite many of those.
Moke did not know whether he should laugh or cry at Lin Li’s request.
How could somebody instruct a Master of Inscription to put up 10 Wards of Bad Luck…?
But forget it, that’s good as well.
10 Wards of Bad Luck were requested by the man himself. If Herza were to question him about it, he could explain that it was according to the order of Lin Li himself. It was not his inefficiency…!
“Alright, 10 Wards of Bad Luck…” Moke nodded, and went off with a weird expression.
“Damn it, when did I even offend him?” Lin Li muttered to himself after Moke left. This Moke was really an unusual man. Since they had never met each other before, it was only normal for him to treat Lin Li politely. Why did he keep targeting him on purpose? That was really absurd!
Let us review what this dude had done…
Apart from his usual unfriendly attitude, he even dug a hole for Lin Li today! F*ck, since he was a Master of Inscription, how would he agree to construct Wards of Bad Luck when Lin Li casually asked him to do so? A fool would have known that mageweaths were the most crucial component in the defense mechanism of a mage tower. If it were to depend solely on 10 entry-level mageweaths, a swarm of mosquitoes would have destroyed the entire tower…
“Luckily, I still have something to back it up…” Lin Li muttered, and pursed his lips after seeing Moke’s backview disappear from his vision.
For ordinary people, a Ward of Bad Luck was indeed the most basic of mageweaths. However, Lin Li knew that if one knew how to do it, it would bring about unimaginable effects…
Of course, knowing was knowing. Lin Li did not have the mood to remind Moke about that.
After sending Moke off, Lin Li went to the station to rent a coach. Then, he headed to Doland with Norfeller.
Upon entering Doland, the duo got down on their feet, and reached the entrance of the Adventurers Guild very quickly. The ground of the Breezy Plains was not that flat after all. There was a lot of Adventurers in the tiny Doland City, exceeding the numbers in Felan and Alanna. As the two men went up the steps, they saw a bustling scene. Thousands of Adventurers were gathered at the guild hall. It took Lin Li and Norfeller much effort to walk through the crowd.
The Adventurers Guild was always a place where people of different backgrounds gathered—especially in a place like Doland that lacked order. There were people of different age and gender, apprentices below level-5 and powerful people above level-15… and pickpockets, of course. The hustle and bustle in the guild hall made it seem like a busy wet market.
Lin Li walked into the guild hall, and felt something moving in his pocket. Before he managed to turn his head, Norfeller had already stepped in…
“L-let go of your hand!”
A frantic voice could be heard. Lin Li turned to look, and he saw a short and thin youth struggling with Norfeller. However, how could the strength of a human be comparable to that of a Vampire? His hand was as though caught in a metal pincer…
There was a coin pouch hanging on that index finger. It was dangling due to all the struggling…
Lin Li turned back, and naturally realized what had happened.
Doland was indeed Doland. It had the most pickpockets. Being one who had never encountered any pickpockets in Jarrosus and Alanna, Lin Li actually broke the streak by being in Doland for a few days.
“W-what… do you want? L-let me tell you, y-you are on the territory of our Mafia Brotherhood! If you dare to offend any of us, you are going to get it…” The short and thin youth tried to use the name of his organization to threaten the two men who looked like danger.
“Mafia Brotherhood?” Lin Li repeated after him. This name sounded rather familiar…
Oh, yes…
Wasn’t this the undesirable organization that Old Salatt’s son, Garso, joined…? So, it was just a bunch of pickpockets?
No wonder he saw a dangling hook peeking out of Garso’s pocket that night. It seemed that he had a special occupation in Doland.
Damn, I have to warn Old Salatt to teach his son now. How can being a pickpocket have a brighter future than committing murder, arson, rape, and robbing?
“Mafia Brotherhood, right?” Lin Li looked at the short and thin youth a while before instructing his high-ranking Vampire. “Norfeller, let him go first.”
“Yes, Master. ”
After that steel-like pincer let go of his hand, the short and lean youth took some time to rub his bruised hand. “So you know what’s better for you…”
“Shut up, moron!” Lin Li snapped angrily. “I always despise pickpockets! If I didn’t have something for you to help me out with, I would have gotten rid of you…”
“What are you joking about?!” The short and lean youth took a step back in fear. Just when he wanted to flee, he felt a burning sensation at his feet…
When he looked down, he nearly had a heart attack. He saw that his feet suddenly caught fire!
“What the hell is this! Help…” The short and thin youth winced in pain. The two balls of fire stuck to his feet. Regardless of how he struggled, he could not shake them off.
“Don’t be so nervous. It is just a small trick…” Seeing that it was enough, Lin Li waved his hand to disperse the spell. “But, if you don’t want to listen to us, this little trick can take your little life too…”
“Y-you, you… What do you want?”
“I don’t have anything I want to do, I just have an errand I hope you can help me with…” Lin Li said as he brought Norfeller towards the exit of the guild hall. Before stepping out, he looked back, and said, “If you don’t want to be burnt alive, you’d better follow us out now…”
“Oh my God…” The short and thin youth shivered as he imagined himself being burnt alive. Then, he followed them outside in trepidation.
After the three people reached an isolated area, Lin Li stopped in his tracks, and turned to look at the youth.
“Introduce yourself,” he said, and gave the youth a smile that sent jitters down his spine.
“I… I’m Duke…”
“Very good, Duke. Are you interested in earning some money?”
“Huh?”
“What, I believe there should only be a yes or a no, isn’t it? I’m not a monster. Why are you looking at me like that? Do you think I will eat you up?”
“…” Duke swallowed his saliva and cursed in his mind. How should I know if you are a monster?
“What’s your answer?”
“Erm.” The short youth hesitated. “Yes…” he replied meekly.
“I have some errands that I need help with. If you help me do it, I can give you 5000 gold coins as a reward.”
“D-did you say ‘5000 gold coins’?”
That shocking number nearly gave Duke a heart attack. When he held Lin Li’s heavy wallet just now, he knew that Lin Li had to be a rich man. But, no matter how imaginative Duke was, he would not have expected him to offer such a high monetary reward. Did he get all his wealth from the wind?
“Yeah, 5000 gold coins. Are you interested?”
“Y-yes, yes, yes! I am…” Duke replied and nodded profusely. At this moment, Duke really wanted to have two heads to better show his sincerity to deal with Lin Li. It was as though those 5000 gold coins would grow wings and fly away from him if he was a little less sincere…
“I believe you have heard about the Syer Bandits. I want a stack of detailed information on them: their strength in numbers, physical abilities, favorite hideout, name of their boss, their past, the color of undergarment they like to wear… et cetera. The more detailed, the better it is. If your report is satisfactory, I don’t mind increasing the reward to ten thousand gold coins.”
“My gosh…” Duke became breathless upon hearing the shocking number.
“But…” After Lin Li threw out the temptation, his words got a sharper twist. “But, if you were to ruin this matter, I promise I would ensure you enjoy the rest of your life.
“Oh, yes. Before I forget, I had planted something on your body. Not to worry, it would not cost you your life. It would only enable me to find you more easily. If I want to, I would be able to chase you down regardless of how far you try to hide yourself. Understand that?”
“Yes…!”
“Very good,” Lin Li said as he smiled. He retrieved the coin pouch from Norfeller and fiddled with it in his hands before he threw it to Duke. “The money inside is my deposit. After doing that report, go to that ore shop to look for me,” Lin Li said, and pointed to the shop opposite them. “Remember, you only have three days…”
Lin Li spent the next two days in Kaman’s ore trading shop.
Since the mage tower in the Black Clouds Town was still under construction, there was nothing he could help with if he were to return at this time. Hence, he decided to stay at Doland City to save himself some trouble. Another reason for staying here was to make use of Kaman’s smithy. Having money was admittedly great, but as compared to Old Salatt’s blacksmith shop, Kaman’s smithy was much more powerful. It had all kinds of facilities and rare tools. In Kaman’s words, with the relevant skills, one could create divine-level equipment right in his smithy.
Of course, Lin Li was not there to create any such equipment…
He only took out the leftover magical metals and tried to forge a magical weapon that was barely at the master-level. Since Lasorick could not even recognize weapons made from the rainbow adamantine, it would be a waste to give him better equipment…
On the third day, Lin Li handed the three magical weapons he had forged to Kaman. While he was eating breakfast and wondering if Duke would leave him in the lurch, a worker in the trading shop ran towards him.
“Mage Felic, there’s a bandit outside by the name of Duke, claiming that he is your friend. Do you want to meet him?”
“Yes, let him in.”
Not long after, the worker brought Duke over.
“Good morning, Mage Felic…”
“Morning, Duke. How is the errand going?”
“It is almost done. Mage Felic, do you want to hear it now?”
“Sure.”
“The Syer Bandits was set up by militiamen of Syer Town. Their leader is Vanskore, the formal leader of the militia. 20 years ago, the Syer Town suffered a plague; it’s said that around half of the population was wiped out by it…”
“Look, Master Moke. If you have extra time, please help me to establish 10 Wards of Bad Luck within the tower…”
“Wards of Bad Luck?” Moke asked in surprise.
Actually, before he went to Lin Li, he had decided to put up some low-grade mageweaths for Lin Li as the Supreme Council did not specify the grade of the mageweaths he had to use. Since Lin Li did not look like a man who would have much knowledge about Inscription, he would not be able to notice that the mageweaths had low quality…
However, Moke did not expect that the fella would be so dumb. Ward of Bad Luck was the simplest entry-level mageweath. Not to mention this Master of Inscription, even his weakest students would be able to create quite many of those.
Moke did not know whether he should laugh or cry at Lin Li’s request.
How could somebody instruct a Master of Inscription to put up 10 Wards of Bad Luck…?
But forget it, that’s good as well.
10 Wards of Bad Luck were requested by the man himself. If Herza were to question him about it, he could explain that it was according to the order of Lin Li himself. It was not his inefficiency…!
“Alright, 10 Wards of Bad Luck…” Moke nodded, and went off with a weird expression.
“Damn it, when did I even offend him?” Lin Li muttered to himself after Moke left. This Moke was really an unusual man. Since they had never met each other before, it was only normal for him to treat Lin Li politely. Why did he keep targeting him on purpose? That was really absurd!
Let us review what this dude had done…
Apart from his usual unfriendly attitude, he even dug a hole for Lin Li today! F*ck, since he was a Master of Inscription, how would he agree to construct Wards of Bad Luck when Lin Li casually asked him to do so? A fool would have known that mageweaths were the most crucial component in the defense mechanism of a mage tower. If it were to depend solely on 10 entry-level mageweaths, a swarm of mosquitoes would have destroyed the entire tower…
“Luckily, I still have something to back it up…” Lin Li muttered, and pursed his lips after seeing Moke’s backview disappear from his vision.
For ordinary people, a Ward of Bad Luck was indeed the most basic of mageweaths. However, Lin Li knew that if one knew how to do it, it would bring about unimaginable effects…
Of course, knowing was knowing. Lin Li did not have the mood to remind Moke about that.
After sending Moke off, Lin Li went to the station to rent a coach. Then, he headed to Doland with Norfeller.
Upon entering Doland, the duo got down on their feet, and reached the entrance of the Adventurers Guild very quickly. The ground of the Breezy Plains was not that flat after all. There was a lot of Adventurers in the tiny Doland City, exceeding the numbers in Felan and Alanna. As the two men went up the steps, they saw a bustling scene. Thousands of Adventurers were gathered at the guild hall. It took Lin Li and Norfeller much effort to walk through the crowd.
The Adventurers Guild was always a place where people of different backgrounds gathered—especially in a place like Doland that lacked order. There were people of different age and gender, apprentices below level-5 and powerful people above level-15… and pickpockets, of course. The hustle and bustle in the guild hall made it seem like a busy wet market.
Lin Li walked into the guild hall, and felt something moving in his pocket. Before he managed to turn his head, Norfeller had already stepped in…
“L-let go of your hand!”
A frantic voice could be heard. Lin Li turned to look, and he saw a short and thin youth struggling with Norfeller. However, how could the strength of a human be comparable to that of a Vampire? His hand was as though caught in a metal pincer…
There was a coin pouch hanging on that index finger. It was dangling due to all the struggling…
Lin Li turned back, and naturally realized what had happened.
Doland was indeed Doland. It had the most pickpockets. Being one who had never encountered any pickpockets in Jarrosus and Alanna, Lin Li actually broke the streak by being in Doland for a few days.
“W-what… do you want? L-let me tell you, y-you are on the territory of our Mafia Brotherhood! If you dare to offend any of us, you are going to get it…” The short and thin youth tried to use the name of his organization to threaten the two men who looked like danger.
“Mafia Brotherhood?” Lin Li repeated after him. This name sounded rather familiar…
Oh, yes…
Wasn’t this the undesirable organization that Old Salatt’s son, Garso, joined…? So, it was just a bunch of pickpockets?
No wonder he saw a dangling hook peeking out of Garso’s pocket that night. It seemed that he had a special occupation in Doland.
Damn, I have to warn Old Salatt to teach his son now. How can being a pickpocket have a brighter future than committing murder, arson, rape, and robbing?
“Mafia Brotherhood, right?” Lin Li looked at the short and thin youth a while before instructing his high-ranking Vampire. “Norfeller, let him go first.”
“Yes, Master. ”
After that steel-like pincer let go of his hand, the short and lean youth took some time to rub his bruised hand. “So you know what’s better for you…”
“Shut up, moron!” Lin Li snapped angrily. “I always despise pickpockets! If I didn’t have something for you to help me out with, I would have gotten rid of you…”
“What are you joking about?!” The short and lean youth took a step back in fear. Just when he wanted to flee, he felt a burning sensation at his feet…
When he looked down, he nearly had a heart attack. He saw that his feet suddenly caught fire!
“What the hell is this! Help…” The short and thin youth winced in pain. The two balls of fire stuck to his feet. Regardless of how he struggled, he could not shake them off.
“Don’t be so nervous. It is just a small trick…” Seeing that it was enough, Lin Li waved his hand to disperse the spell. “But, if you don’t want to listen to us, this little trick can take your little life too…”
“Y-you, you… What do you want?”
“I don’t have anything I want to do, I just have an errand I hope you can help me with…” Lin Li said as he brought Norfeller towards the exit of the guild hall. Before stepping out, he looked back, and said, “If you don’t want to be burnt alive, you’d better follow us out now…”
“Oh my God…” The short and thin youth shivered as he imagined himself being burnt alive. Then, he followed them outside in trepidation.
After the three people reached an isolated area, Lin Li stopped in his tracks, and turned to look at the youth.
“Introduce yourself,” he said, and gave the youth a smile that sent jitters down his spine.
“I… I’m Duke…”
“Very good, Duke. Are you interested in earning some money?”
“Huh?”
“What, I believe there should only be a yes or a no, isn’t it? I’m not a monster. Why are you looking at me like that? Do you think I will eat you up?”
“…” Duke swallowed his saliva and cursed in his mind. How should I know if you are a monster?
“What’s your answer?”
“Erm.” The short youth hesitated. “Yes…” he replied meekly.
“I have some errands that I need help with. If you help me do it, I can give you 5000 gold coins as a reward.”
“D-did you say ‘5000 gold coins’?”
That shocking number nearly gave Duke a heart attack. When he held Lin Li’s heavy wallet just now, he knew that Lin Li had to be a rich man. But, no matter how imaginative Duke was, he would not have expected him to offer such a high monetary reward. Did he get all his wealth from the wind?
“Yeah, 5000 gold coins. Are you interested?”
“Y-yes, yes, yes! I am…” Duke replied and nodded profusely. At this moment, Duke really wanted to have two heads to better show his sincerity to deal with Lin Li. It was as though those 5000 gold coins would grow wings and fly away from him if he was a little less sincere…
“I believe you have heard about the Syer Bandits. I want a stack of detailed information on them: their strength in numbers, physical abilities, favorite hideout, name of their boss, their past, the color of undergarment they like to wear… et cetera. The more detailed, the better it is. If your report is satisfactory, I don’t mind increasing the reward to ten thousand gold coins.”
“My gosh…” Duke became breathless upon hearing the shocking number.
“But…” After Lin Li threw out the temptation, his words got a sharper twist. “But, if you were to ruin this matter, I promise I would ensure you enjoy the rest of your life.
“Oh, yes. Before I forget, I had planted something on your body. Not to worry, it would not cost you your life. It would only enable me to find you more easily. If I want to, I would be able to chase you down regardless of how far you try to hide yourself. Understand that?”
“Yes…!”
“Very good,” Lin Li said as he smiled. He retrieved the coin pouch from Norfeller and fiddled with it in his hands before he threw it to Duke. “The money inside is my deposit. After doing that report, go to that ore shop to look for me,” Lin Li said, and pointed to the shop opposite them. “Remember, you only have three days…”
Lin Li spent the next two days in Kaman’s ore trading shop.
Since the mage tower in the Black Clouds Town was still under construction, there was nothing he could help with if he were to return at this time. Hence, he decided to stay at Doland City to save himself some trouble. Another reason for staying here was to make use of Kaman’s smithy. Having money was admittedly great, but as compared to Old Salatt’s blacksmith shop, Kaman’s smithy was much more powerful. It had all kinds of facilities and rare tools. In Kaman’s words, with the relevant skills, one could create divine-level equipment right in his smithy.
Of course, Lin Li was not there to create any such equipment…
He only took out the leftover magical metals and tried to forge a magical weapon that was barely at the master-level. Since Lasorick could not even recognize weapons made from the rainbow adamantine, it would be a waste to give him better equipment…
On the third day, Lin Li handed the three magical weapons he had forged to Kaman. While he was eating breakfast and wondering if Duke would leave him in the lurch, a worker in the trading shop ran towards him.
“Mage Felic, there’s a bandit outside by the name of Duke, claiming that he is your friend. Do you want to meet him?”
“Yes, let him in.”
Not long after, the worker brought Duke over.
“Good morning, Mage Felic…”
“Morning, Duke. How is the errand going?”
“It is almost done. Mage Felic, do you want to hear it now?”
“Sure.”
“The Syer Bandits was set up by militiamen of Syer Town. Their leader is Vanskore, the formal leader of the militia. 20 years ago, the Syer Town suffered a plague; it’s said that around half of the population was wiped out by it…”
