Tip

Holy Symbol: A magical Holy Symbol crafted from 100% Mithril, imbued with special magic you cannot comprehend.

Composed and with a solemn expression, Du Pont slowly entered the waiting room.

The dimly lit hall seemed to absorb light. Like the changing room, it was entirely lit by candlelight. As Du Pont stepped inside, a chill ran through him, as if every cell in his body was resisting this lavish and peculiar temple.

Du Pont suppressed his impatience. The system also reminded him why he felt such resistance.

[Your Knowledge: Arcana check failed. Unable to discern the core secrets of this building.]

[You have entered a special zone of anti-magic. If you cannot comprehend the key information here, you will be unable to cast spells.]

The core area of Mystra's church actually had an anti-magic zone where spells couldn't be cast.

Interesting, Du Pont thought, scanning the room. He noticed the facilities weren't complex, consisting only of a few partitioned booths and a confessional at the far end.

Following instructions, Du Pont went to booth number one at the back.

Opening the door, Du Pont kept his gaze lowered. Even with just a quick glance, he was sure the person coming to atone was likely an elderly man. He didn't look up or speak, simply extending the gold Holy Symbol Dorothy had given him.

"Oh, another newbie?" A sound of a book closing came from inside the booth. The old man took the Holy Symbol, his voice laced with jest. "How considerate. Let's go."

Du Pont remained silent, turning and walking slowly ahead.

The corridor between the waiting room and the confessional was barely 10 meters long—impossible to take the wrong way.

Reaching the end, Du Pont again looked at his shoes, extending his arm in a gesture of invitation.

The old man didn't move. Du Pont heard the sound of rustling pockets, followed by a yawn. The man mumbled something in a very fast dialect, placing a worn silver coin and the church's Holy Symbol into Du Pont's hand before entering the open confessional door.

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

Although the old man spoke very quickly and not in Common Tongue, Du Pont understood what he said.

Draconic: Sooner or later, I'm going to throw you money-grubbing priests into the mines as slaves.

Looking at the silver coin in his hand, Du Pont felt a slight burning sensation. After examining it, he realized it was indeed special.

Netheril-Era Ancient Silver Coin

Quality: Common

Description: This otherwise ordinary silver coin witnessed the rise and fall of a mage federation. Due to its owner's care, it has retained its original appearance despite the passage of time, though it inevitably looks somewhat old.

Value: This coin has extraordinary collector's value, worth approximately 100 gold coins or more.

Hiss...

It already felt hot in his hand, and now Du Pont was even more perplexed.

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

Considering the casual complaint he'd made and the coin's description, this guy must be pretty old. That human face might even be a disguise.

Is this a world of big shots?

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

Taking the money isn't the point; the point is not to leak anyone's information.

So how could he avoid leaking information?

Ignorance is bliss. As long as he knew nothing, there would naturally be no risk of leaks. He would just do what the people who usually did this job did. That should be the most correct approach.

About ten minutes later, the confessional door opened again. Du Pont quickly got up from the bench, only to hear another emotionless voice from inside.

"Next."

Du Pont didn't ask where the other person had gone, simply walking to confessional number two. He kept his head down, looking at his toes, and saw a pair of Boots of Elvenkind identical to his own, but the exposed ankles were a shiny black.

That skin tone...

Thinking didn't stop Du Pont from handing over the Holy Symbol. The sound of clinking silver chains came from inside the booth. The sinner inside scanned Du Pont's face, simply saying calmly, "Let's go."

A woman?

Ten meters wasn't long. Soon, the two arrived at the end. The second sinner placed the Holy Symbol and a pure white coin into Du Pont's hand, stepping into the confessional.

It was a platinum coin imprinted with the Holy Symbol of Waukeen, the goddess of wealth.

A platinum coin was usually worth 10 gold coins, but the platinum coins produced by the Church of Waukeen were far superior in weight and purity to normal circulating coins. Normally, one was worth two ordinary platinum coins, with a market price of 20 gold coins.

Compared to the seemingly non-human old man from before, this was obviously simple but substantial, making Du Pont understand why Dorothy asked if he needed money.

These 'sinners' were really generous with their tips. This one coin alone was enough for him to buy 20 sheets of parchment.

With a private channel for selling scrolls, he would only need to copy about 120 scrolls to repay his 1000 gold coin loan. He still had 26 days, so it didn't seem like a big problem now. At most, he would just pay a few extra days of interest, and his shoes would definitely be saved.

But there was still one problem: if he did that, his experience points might not be enough, and it would significantly slow down his advancement speed.

An adventurer's strength generally snowballed. With greater strength, they could naturally solve monsters more easily and quickly to earn bounties. He could also gain experience by killing monsters. As long as he could get the snowball rolling, it would definitely be much better than being a slave at the academy.

In that case, increasing his strength should take precedence over repaying the loan. As long as he could become self-taught and get a job, it would only take 1000 experience to advance from a level 1 fighter to level 2. A level 2 mage + level 2 fighter would definitely be stronger than a level 3 mage, require fewer experience points, and have more countermeasures when facing enemies.

A quick search also gave Du Pont the specific prices.

Directly learning proficiency with military weapons cost 100 gold coins, while a learning manual cost 10 gold coins. Shield proficiency and single armor types like light and medium armor were even cheaper, costing only half the price. Professional skills were also the same.

The price made Du Pont quite tempted.

XX Proficiency, though the lowest level of mastery, is a necessary condition for a class to learn independently. For example, a warrior needs proficiency in light, medium, and heavy armor, plus shields, simple weapons, and martial weapons, and must learn two skills from Acrobatics, Animal Handling, Athletics, History, Insight, Intimidation, Perception, and Survival.

If Du Pont chooses to learn everything directly, it will cost him 200 + 200 + 100, totaling 500 gold coins.

This price isn't too high, but it's not low either. However, becoming a new system warrior also requires mastering a fighting style, and that price is much higher.

The warrior's basic fighting styles include Archery, Defense, Dueling, Great Weapon Fighting, Protection, and Two-Weapon Fighting. Directly learning each style costs 1000 gold coins, while learning through training costs one-tenth of that.

It's the same price as a feat.

And don't complain about the price, because the cost to learn another feat/fighting style from the same class doubles, with no exceptions.

Even if Du Pont meets all these requirements, only one step remains to become a new system warrior: mastering the power of Ki.

But after seeing the price to directly learn Ki, Du Pont was once again speechless.

A familiar 1000 gold coins.