Book 11: Chapter 49: The Price

“Hill, I remember you came out from the underground treasure vault of Umberlee’s Church with some magic crystals and magic cores, didn’t you?” Iristin suddenly remembered something and spoke. “Those items are quite valuable. Maybe they can cover our costs.”

“Hmm!” Reminded by Iristin, Qin Lun also remembered. At that time, he worried about attracting the attention of the gods, so he didn’t take too many things from Umberlee’s underground base. Apart from a large bag of gold coins, he only took out a parchment scroll, over ten of the best-looking magic crystal cores, and a staff that had its magic gem pried off.

He gave the staff to Iristin. After the gem was removed, it wasn’t worth much; only the magic runes on it were worth studying. However, those pure magic crystal cores, each the size of an egg, were quite precious. As for the last parchment scroll, Qin Lun and the others didn’t recognize the ancient writing on it at all, and they had long forgotten about it.

But perhaps here in Candlekeep, this parchment with ancient writing might be the most valuable item.

“Let’s give it a try then!” Qin Lun smiled and stepped forward first toward the shimmering elliptical magic mirror gate.

The scenery flashed before his eyes, and a simple, plain office appeared in front of Qin Lun. It was a spacious study, with rows of bookshelves all around. Strangely, the shelves were packed full of books, but the spines had no titles written on them.

Directly ahead in the study was a long desk, also piled high with pages and parchment scrolls. An old mage with a white beard was behind the desk, bent over, copying something.

Hearing movement from the water mirror gate in the room, he looked up from the stacks of books, but his gaze was vacant, as if his mind hadn’t yet shaken off his previous thoughts.

“Honored Reader, we are visitors requesting entry to Candlekeep!” Qin Lun placed a hand over his chest and bowed slightly.

Before Linda left, she had instructed them to address everyone they met in Candlekeep as “Reader”. Here, “Reader” wasn’t a specific position in Candlekeep, but rather a general term for the scholars. Compared to titles like mage or sage, these people preferred to be called “Readers”.

“Oh? Oh!” The old mage’s eyes finally began to focus. He smacked his lips slightly and looked at Qin Lun and the others.

“Which category of books do you wish to borrow from the central library?” the old mage asked softly, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Honored Reader, we are not here to borrow books. We wish to use the long-distance teleportation array in Candlekeep’s underground labyrinth,” Qin Lun said respectfully.

“Hmm? Coming to Candlekeep to borrow the array?” This answer clearly surprised the old mage. He felt around on the table, found a monocle, put it on, and began to examine Qin Lun and the others carefully. “Human, Moon Elf, Highland Elf… Are you mercenaries? No, let me see… There seems to be something unusual about all of you!”

The old mage took out a deck of black cards from a drawer in the table. After shuffling them, he drew six cards corresponding to the six people. His finger flipped them over one by one from right to left. “The Dryad card, Guardian of the Forest… Are you a ranger or a druid?”

“I am a Forest Guardian of the Nature Sect!” Iristin smiled and nodded. Forest Guardian was often a term used by some druids to refer to themselves.

“Mountain and White Goat card! A powerful Highland Elf… Not like a mountain shepherd, then… A Harper of the Northlands?” The old mage pointed at Mastashia and raised his white eyebrows slightly. His seemingly cloudy eyes held remarkable sharpness.

“The Flogging Queen card… A follower of Lady Loviatar. Heh, this is a truly strange combination!” the old mage chuckled happily. But when his gaze fell on the last three cards, he frowned slightly. “Three Soldier cards… Strange, you don’t look like mercenaries… Ah, I’m getting old, not as sharp as I used to be!”

Qin Lun and the other two stared at the old mage’s cards. Even though they knew their Apostle identities couldn’t possibly be exposed, their backs still broke out in a slight sweat. This old guy’s card divination was incredibly accurate!

In a sense, weren’t Apostles just mercenaries for the Shattered Starry Sky?!

“Sorry, sorry, it’s not that this old man wants to pry into your secrets. It’s mainly because the underground labyrinth of Candlekeep is a heavily guarded area. We cannot just let anyone in.” The old mage muttered an explanation to himself, then continued, “Since we’ve established that you are not book thieves, then borrowing the long-distance teleportation array is certainly possible. However, before you came to Candlekeep, you should have heard about the rules here, right?”

“Yes, sir. We will pay a suitable price.” Qin Lun nodded with a smile. He took out all dozen or so magic crystal cores from his storage space, stepped forward, and placed them on the old mage’s desk.

The old mage examined them one by one without any reservations. The whole process was very quick. He practically picked one up and put it down immediately, finishing the inspection of all the magic crystal cores in moments.

Qin Lun and Hill exchanged a glance, both seeing the surprise in each other’s eyes. They had originally thought the person stationed here by Candlekeep would be a minor figure. But judging by the old mage’s current display, he had at least two professions that had reached master level: card divination and appraisal.

Accurately discerning everyone’s profession and identity like that couldn’t be done just by observation; it absolutely involved the mysterious art of divination. And appraising the magic crystal cores so quickly required profound appraisal skills; only a master appraiser could do that.

After inspecting the magic crystal cores Qin Lun provided, the old mage tapped the desk with his finger, pondered for a moment, and said, “The quality of these magic crystals is quite good. If they were only for entry tickets to Candlekeep, then for the six of you, only six would be needed. But to borrow the long-distance teleportation array, I’m afraid this isn’t even enough for a fraction of the cost.”

The old mage paused, then continued to explain, “The long-distance teleportation array consumes a great deal. Although the teleportation distances vary, even the nearest destination requires the consumption of over a hundred of these magic crystals.”

“Over a hundred…” The group looked at each other, feeling a sense of helplessness.

Qin Lun had initially thought that if these magic crystal cores weren’t valuable enough, he could exchange for some more magic crystals from the Star Void item list. But the quantity of over a hundred was just too exaggerated.

Besides, this wasn’t directly completing an Epic Plot; it was just a single teleportation. Spending over a hundred thousand Shattered Crystals on this didn’t seem worth it!

“It seems this is a bit difficult for you!” The old mage didn’t seem surprised, smiling as he said, “Converting over a hundred magic crystals into gold coins is indeed an astronomical figure. But what Candlekeep truly values is knowledge, not wealth. If you have brought any literature or rare books that we do not have here, and can impress this old man, then you could borrow the teleportation array without spending a single gold coin!”

“What about this parchment scroll? It has some ancient writing on it. It should have significant research value!” Qin Lun hesitated for a moment, then took out the ancient parchment scroll he obtained from Umberlee’s Church and placed it in front of the mage.

“Oh, let me take a look first!” The old mage adjusted his monocle, took the parchment scroll, and brought it close to the candlelight to examine it.

Watching the old mage’s shifting expression under the candlelight, Qin Lun and the others suddenly felt as if they were awaiting a judgment, making them feel slightly uneasy.

The expression on the old mage’s face gradually turned serious. He even habitually started chewing on his fingernails. It seemed the writing on the parchment scroll was indeed something he hadn’t seen before, which relieved Qin Lun and the others who had been closely observing his reaction.

After a long while, the old mage finally put down the parchment scroll in his hands, but his brows were tightly furrowed, and his expression showed a rare hint of hesitation.

“The value of this scroll… I cannot determine it!” the old mage said slowly. “But it’s not because I don’t know what this is. Rather, the value of this item itself is hard to measure…”

“Can you understand this writing?” Qin Lun’s eyes sparkled, revealing a touch of pleasant surprise.

He had obtained this parchment scroll many days ago, but no matter how much he studied it, he couldn’t understand the ancient writing. This was a strange phenomenon. After all, when the Shattered Starry Sky sent Apostles into different worlds, the Apostle Soul Mark usually directly infused knowledge of the continent’s common language, past and present. Any writing that had been passed down could basically be automatically translated.

If even the Apostle Soul Mark couldn’t translate the writing, it meant it was either an encrypted text or protected by the World Law. Whichever it was, once deciphered, it would grant Qin Lun a certain amount of World Exploration Degree.

“This old man can understand it, but it’s almost the same as not understanding it!” The old mage twirled his white beard, looking somewhat troubled as he spoke. “This is a private magic notebook of an ancient mage, dating back to the time of the Netheril Empire. The content might be related to research findings on a certain Nether Scroll.”

“Research notes on the Nether Scrolls?” Qin Lun and the others were somewhat astonished.

They knew that the Nether Scrolls not only recorded many Forbidden Spells but also extended from them an entire magic system. It could be said that this was the third complete magic system independent of Draconic Magic and Elf Magic. It could even exist independently, free from the Magic Web of the Goddess of Magic, Mystra.

“Then have you managed to decipher any part of its contents?” Qin Lun asked, full of anticipation.

As an Apostle, Qin Lun had the backing of the Shattered Starry Sky. They didn’t need a full deciphering. If the old mage before them could decipher even a portion, then this parchment scroll would hold no secrets for the Shattered Starry Sky, just like the intercepted Zhentarim secret letter Mastashia had obtained before.

At the same time, it would grant Qin Lun a large amount of World Exploration Degree. After all, this was research notes on the Nether Scrolls, which influenced an entire era.

“Heh, do you know what a mage’s private notebook is?” The old mage couldn’t help but shake his head with a wry smile. As he explained, everyone gradually understood.

Every mage was a knowledgeable sage. They did a lot of reading and writing in their daily work. To protect their research findings, they often created their own shorthand writing that only they and their subordinate apprentices could understand.

If a mage achieved great renown, had their legacy inherited by many apprentices, and those apprentices spread the knowledge further, then it would form a magic school. The shorthand writing they privately created would also spread.

Throughout history, magic schools were as numerous as the stars. Some famous mages left behind legacies with many inheritors, so their privately created shorthand writing gradually became public knowledge. However, for some mages whose lineage died out, the private notebooks they left behind became like unreadable heavenly texts to anyone else.

The parchment scroll Qin Lun obtained served as a link between past and future. Parts of the shorthand writing were more widely circulated, which the old mage could understand. But the core parts, especially the research text concerning the Nether Scrolls, bore distinct personal characteristics, so the old mage naturally couldn’t understand them.

Of course, just because the old mage couldn’t understand it didn’t necessarily mean this ancient mage’s lineage had completely died out. Perhaps there were others who could decipher it, so this notebook still held some value.