Once the purchase target had been confirmed, a deep voice reached Zhang Yuan's ears: "Target: quarry!"
A Stone Golem made entirely of round stones rolled down from above like a boulder. It rolled around once across the checkerboard floor before standing up and waving at Zhang Yuan.
This chess piece has a mind of its own? Zhang Yuan was extremely surprised. He walked over and found that the Stone Golem was less than shoulder-high, about 1.5 meters tall. It was even shorter than Huang Xiang, someone thought maliciously.
He waved a hand in front of the little one's face and found that it showed no expression. Of course, it had a stone face, so no expression could be seen anyway. It merely glanced at him before ignoring him again.
Wanting to test the chess piece's intelligence, Zhang Yuan issued several commands in succession: move forward, move backward, jump, and so on. The little one carried them all out.
"Use throw!" he shouted. There was no response. After staring at the little one strangely for a while, a status bar suddenly appeared above its head, showing full health and skills ready, but an empty mana bar.
That made sense. A newly summoned chess piece naturally had no mana. Giving up on that, Zhang Yuan began trying more complicated commands.
Turn around—no problem. Wave—no problem either. Sing a song? Sorry. Dance? Not happening!
After all, it was only a chess piece, not a true hero or troop from the worlds of Dota or Azeroth. Zhang Yuan sighed and stopped testing it. Instead, he gripped the twenty-sided die and shouted, "Leave! Exit! Quit the game! I want to leave!???"
There was no response. Surely he couldn't have trapped himself here, could he? After thinking of a keyword, Zhang Yuan tried again. "DLTCEP, exit!"
After another journey through a flushing toilet, Zhang Yuan woke from the dizziness of spinning and saw the old man Banterley Mirror Image as soon as he opened his eyes. The sensation of reality and warmth from his body and blood told him that he had returned to reality.
The old mage asked urgently, "Did the ritual succeed? You learned both spells, right? My Dream Transmission and Jelana's ritual couldn't possibly have failed."
Already dizzy, Zhang Yuan was made even more muddle-headed by the old mage's barrage of questions. He opened his toad-like mouth and said nothing.
Jelana, who had followed him over, tugged at her husband's sleeve. "Charnem just woke up from the ritual. How can he answer when you're throwing so many questions at him at once? Have a little patience."
After sitting alone in a daze for quite some time, Zhang Yuan finally came to his senses. He solemnly thanked the Mirror Image couple, then promised with some embarrassment but firm resolve, "I'll definitely pay the 500 gold the ritual cost. You only need to give me some time."
Having just unlocked his own golden finger, he was full of confidence. It wasn't exactly a world-shaking change, but it was a golden finger, at least. Wasn't a little finger still a finger?
The old mage noncommittally took a puff from his pipe and slowly exhaled a smoke ring. "Fine. I'll wait."
Knowing that the other party did not particularly care about the debt, Zhang Yuan said no more and simply committed it to memory.
"Charnem, hurry and pack your things. The ritual has already taken more than two hours, and your group hasn't gone far. Go on," Jelana kindly reminded him.
Zhang Yuan bowed to the couple, picked up his luggage, and turned to chase after the Flame Fist squad, which had already departed.
The Mirror Image couple remained in the great hall and began tidying up the ritual site while discussing matters in low voices. Their words were too faint to make out clearly, but fragments such as "Bhaal," "Amn," and "Candlekeep" could be heard.
Naturally, the person who had already gone far knew nothing of what followed. After sprinting all the way back and rejoining the group, Zhang Yuan did not even break a sweat. He walked shoulder to shoulder with Skar, his expression unchanged.
After being told that the ritual had gone smoothly, Skar congratulated Zhang Yuan, then solemnly warned him, "Beyond the Friendly Arm is the intersection of the Coast Road and Lion's Way. Caravans and travelers heading to Candlekeep, Baldur's Gate, or Beregost all have to pass through there."
"The heavy traffic also attracts a heavy concentration of bandits. Being attacked by bandits or monsters in this area is commonplace. It's said that the most dangerous monster ever seen here was an Ogre Mage!"
Skar then reminded the entire squad to remain more vigilant. Regretting that he could not cast his summoning spell today, Zhang Yuan also cast Mage Armor on himself in advance.
As the group continued onward, they encountered a few scattered bandits and hobgoblins, but fortunately avoided dangerous creatures such as wolf packs and ogres.
Zhang Yuan, being extremely crafty, obtained the execution rights for nearly every monster. It began when he made a request to the captain and his companions beforehand.
Claiming that, as a newcomer, he needed to see more blood and build up his courage, he gave up his share of all the loot. In exchange, he obtained the chance to execute enemies and land the finishing blows.
Freeloading was fun for a while, but freeloading forever was even better. Zhang Yuan earned 31 energy with almost no effort, then smugly bought another little one and a Drow Archer for the system's chessboard, leaving him with 12 energy.
Unfortunately, those packs were not endless. Nothing else happened along the remaining road, and the Flame Fist squad smoothly reached the military stronghold of Sword Coast—Beregost.
They made their way toward the town center. The buildings on both sides of the road were no more than three stories tall. Looking into the distance, aside from a few towering structures, everything else consisted of ordinary residences. They were not exactly dilapidated or low, but compared with the inner city of Baldur's Gate, they were far inferior.
When they reached the town center, the view suddenly opened up. A tall stone monument rose in the middle of a small square, surrounded by bustling crowds.
The hoarse cries of peddlers hawking their wares, the loud announcements of heralds, and the soldiers' rough arguments mingled with distant singing and the pounding of the blacksmiths' hammers, composing a noisy yet lively melody of everyday life.
The group did not stop in the square but went straight to their planned lodging—the Merry Performers Inn.
Zhang Yuan knew something about the inn and was not surprised. Unlike the luxurious Feldt Inn, the Merry Performers was known for its affordable prices, good value, and expansive grounds. It was also a regular lodging place for Flame Fist soldiers and temple knights. In terms of safety and economy alone, it was indeed the obvious choice.
While settling into the inn, Zhang Yuan began calculating what benefits he might obtain in Beregost. After thinking it over repeatedly, he still could not make up his mind. Most of the plot took place five years later, after all, so there was probably not even a trace of it at this point. Tyrone's smithy, for example, had not even opened yet.
The only possibility was that early-game artifact from the game: the Cloak of Elvenkind.
As a permanent magical item, it could greatly increase its owner's Charisma, not to mention granting three additional uses of Charm Person each day.
That extra function made Zhang Yuan drool with envy. The benefit of having three more control spells every day went without saying, especially since he had long been dissatisfied with his mere 11 points of Charisma.
"This pathetic value is nowhere near enough to show my true charm," Zhang Yuan muttered with a grunt while secretly making plans.
As the saying went, one should plan before taking action. Zhang Yuan, who knew nothing about his target's circumstances, did not dare charge in recklessly. Setting aside whether he might be outplayed by the other party's Charm Person and fall into a ditch, what about the Flame Fist's reputation if he openly robbed someone? Even if the squad was currently operating under the banner of the Seven Suns Merchant Alliance, Captain Skar would never permit such a thing to happen within his squad.
Burdened by countless concerns, Zhang Yuan felt as if he were trying to bite a porcupine: his hands were tied, and he had no idea where to begin.
Whatever the case, he would wait until he obtained information about the other party before deciding.
Before you continue