Tips

Holy Symbol: A magical holy symbol made of one hundred percent mithril, containing a special magic you could not comprehend.

After calming himself and adopting a solemn expression, Du Pont slowly entered the waiting room.

The dim hall seemed capable of absorbing light. Like the changing room, it was lit entirely by candlelight. The moment he stepped inside, a chill surged through Du Pont's heart, as though every cell in his body rejected this luxurious, unusual temple.

Du Pont suppressed his impatience, and the system also informed him why he felt so resistant.

Your Knowledge: Arcana check failed. Unable to investigate this building's core secret.

You have entered a special antimagic zone. If you cannot grasp the key information here, you will be unable to cast spells within this area.

The core area of Mystra's church actually had an antimagic zone where spells could not be cast.

Interesting, Du Pont thought. He swept his gaze around and found that the facilities here were not complicated, consisting only of several separated booths and a confessional at the very end.

Following the instructions, Du Pont went to Room One at the very back.

Opening the door, Du Pont kept his gaze lowered. Yet with just that casual glance, he was certain that the person seeking absolution was an elderly man who should have been quite advanced in years. He neither looked up nor spoke, merely extending the golden holy symbol Dorothy had given him.

"Oh, another newcomer?" The sound of a book closing came from inside. The old man took the holy symbol, his voice carrying a trace of mockery. "You're pretty sensible. Let's go."

Du Pont said nothing. He merely turned around and walked ahead at an unhurried pace.

There was only a corridor barely ten meters long between the waiting room and the confessionals. It was completely impossible to lead someone the wrong way.

Upon reaching the end, Du Pont looked down at the tips of his shoes again and extended an arm in a gesture of invitation.

The old man did not move. Du Pont only heard the sound of him rummaging through his pockets, followed by a yawn and a rapid mutter in a dialect. Then a worn silver coin and the church's holy symbol were placed in Du Pont's hand, and the man entered the already-open confessional.

After he left, the corner of Du Pont's mouth twitched.

Though the old man had spoken extremely quickly and not in Common Tongue, Du Pont understood what he meant.

Dragonic: Sooner or later, I'll throw you frauds who dare ask me for money into the mines as slaves.

Looking at the silver coin in his hand, Du Pont felt that it was a little too hot to handle. After examining it, he discovered that it really was something unusual.

Ancient Silver Coin from the Netherese Era

Quality: Ordinary

Description: This utterly ordinary silver coin had witnessed the glory and decline of a mage federation. Thanks to its owner's care, it had retained its original appearance despite the passage of time, though it inevitably looked somewhat old.

Value: This silver coin possessed extraordinary collectible value and was worth approximately over 100 gold coins.

Hiss.

It had already felt too hot to handle. Now Du Pont was even more at a loss.

How could this guy casually toss out something worth a hundred gold coins?

Judging from the offhand insult he had muttered and the description of this coin, this guy's lifespan was probably rather long. That human face might even have been a disguise.

Was this the world of big shots?

Still, remembering Dorothy's words, Du Pont put the silver coin away.

If they gave you money, just take it. That was not the key point. The key was that you could not reveal anyone's information.

So how could he avoid revealing anything?

The ignorant were innocent. As long as he knew nothing, there would naturally be no danger of leaks. So he only needed to do what the people normally assigned to this job did. That should have been the correct way to handle things.

About ten minutes later, the confessional opened again. Du Pont hurriedly rose from his bench, only to hear another utterly emotionless voice from inside.

"Next."

Du Pont did not ask where that person had gone. He simply walked straight to Confessional Two. He still looked down at the tips of his shoes, but saw a pair of Boots of Elvenkind in the same style as his own. The exposed ankles, however, were glossy black.

That skin color...

His thoughts did not delay him from handing over the holy symbol. The sound of silver chains clinking came from inside. The sinner within glanced over Du Pont's face and merely said calmly, "Let's go."

A woman?

Ten meters was not far, and the two quickly reached the end. The second sinner handed Du Pont the holy symbol and a snow-white coin, then stepped into the confessional.

It was a Platinum Coin engraved with the Holy Symbol of Waukeen.

Normally, one Platinum Coin was worth ten gold coins. However, the Platinum Coins produced by Waukeen's church were far superior to standard circulating coins in both weight and purity. One was normally equivalent to two ordinary Platinum Coins, with a market value of twenty gold coins.

Compared with the old man who had seemingly not been human, this item was plainly unadorned yet quite substantial. It made Du Pont understand why Dorothy had asked whether he was short of money.

These "sinners" were truly generous with their tips. This single coin was enough for him to buy twenty sheets of parchment.

Now that he had a private channel to sell scrolls, he only needed to copy roughly 120 scrolls to repay his thousand-gold loan. He still had twenty-six days. At this rate, it would not be a problem. At most, he would need to pay a few extra days of interest. The shoes on his feet would definitely be safe.

However, there was another problem. If he did this, his Experience Points might not be enough, and his advancement speed would drop drastically.

An adventurer's strength generally snowballed. With greater strength, one could naturally deal with monsters more easily and quickly to earn bounties. He could also gain Experience Points by killing monsters. As long as he got the snowball rolling, it would definitely be far better than working as the academy's exploited laborer.

From this perspective, improving his strength should take priority over repaying the loan. As long as he could qualify through self-study, advancing from a Level 1 fighter to Level 2 only required 1,000 Experience Points. The actual combat power of a Level 2 wizard plus Level 2 fighter would certainly be much greater than that of a Level 3 wizard, require fewer Experience Points, and offer more options when facing enemies.

After a quick search, Du Pont also learned the exact prices.

Learning martial weapon proficiency directly cost 100 gold coins, while buying a study manual cost 10 gold coins. Single-category proficiencies such as shield proficiency, light armor, and medium armor were even cheaper, costing only half that amount. Professional skills were the same.

The price made Du Pont quite tempted.

Though XX proficiency was the lowest level of proficiency, it was a necessary condition for whether a class could be comprehended independently. For example, a fighter needed proficiency in light, medium, and heavy armor, as well as shields, simple weapons, and martial weapons, while also comprehending two skills among Acrobatics, Animal Handling, Athletics, History, Insight, Intimidation, Perception, and Survival.

If he chose to comprehend all of them directly, he would need 200 plus 200 plus 100, for a total of 500 gold coins.

The price was neither especially high nor especially low, but becoming a fighter under the new system also required mastering a fighting style, and that cost much more.

A fighter's basic fighting styles included Archery, Defense, Dueling, Great Weapon Fighting, Protection, and Two-Weapon Fighting. Directly comprehending any one of them cost 1,000 gold coins, while studying it cost one-tenth of that.

The same price as a feat.

And do not complain that it was expensive. The price of comprehending another feat or fighting style from the same class directly doubled. There was no room for favors.

Even after meeting all those requirements, only the final step remained to become a fighter under the new system: mastering the power of "qi."

When he saw the price of learning qi directly, Du Pont was speechless once more.

That familiar 1,000 gold coins.