High Hedge Castle (A Bonus Chapter to Thank the Readers)

The three men following behind the golem did not dare look around indiscriminately. Even so, everything they saw and heard along the way dazzled these country bumpkins and broadened their horizons.

For example, they had just passed the golem construction room. At a glance, the two-meter-tall flesh golem was merely the most inconspicuous type of construct there. Clay Golems, Stone Golems, and even Iron Golems were all present. Aside from the legendary Diamond Golems and Mithril Golems, the mainstream golems of the wizarding world were practically all there.

The golems in the construction room were not like the one before them, fully assembled and moving freely. Some were missing one or two components and sat quietly on workbenches, waiting to be put together. Others existed entirely as parts, without even a humanoid shape, and could only be identified by their materials.

After passing the construction room, another room on the left, a cultivation room, caused the group to marvel again. Its ceiling was higher than those of the other rooms, and a light source hung above, radiating a bright but gentle glow that illuminated the various plants below. This must be Faerûn's signature greenhouse and artificial light source.

The plants in the greenhouse vied with one another in beauty, and they were vastly different in kind. There were tall trees whose long, sword-shaped leaves drooped like those of willow trees, while their trunks and branches emitted a pale-blue fluorescence;

There were huge, brightly colored flowers as large as washbasins. Their petals revealed a blazing red like flames, while their centers curved inward like volcanic craters, holding golden-yellow stamens;

There were vines that slithered and crawled like snakes. If not for the small yellow flowers and branches growing from them, Zhang Yuan would almost have thought one of them was a python.

After seeing all kinds of strange and bizarre things along the way, the three men had their curiosity thoroughly satisfied. They could not help but develop a sense of awe toward the unknown and powerful forces. After all, admiring something from outside the door was certainly interesting, but if they were the ones lying inside, then no one would probably find it amusing.

Following the staircase that spiraled counterclockwise, the group followed the golem to the tower's third floor. Upon entering, they found a hall. Its grand and orderly furnishings inevitably reminded them of a temple or the residence of a great noble, only with slightly less luxury and considerably more simplicity.

Archmage Tylanthyr stood beside a long bench. The graying hair atop his head revealed the age of its owner, who was no longer young, yet his upright back showed not the slightest stoop.

He simply stood there with his head slightly lowered, as though contemplating something. The index finger of his right hand tapped slowly against the back of the bench, once after another.

The moment the three men came upstairs, they saw the silent Archmage. None of them dared disturb the master's meditation. In the deathly silence, they seemed afraid even to breathe too heavily.

They did not have to wait long. The Archmage before them suddenly raised his head. "A group of curious adventurers? Or perhaps mercenaries greedy for money? Maybe half-baked wizards? None of that matters."

"What I need is a reason—a reason sufficient to make a wizard whose research has been interrupted waste his research time receiving a group of adventurers." Tylanthyr's voice was not loud, but when his deep tone reached the three men's ears, they all shuddered in unison.

Zhang Yuan hurriedly stepped forward to explain. "Honored Master Tylanthyr, we are adventurers from Baldur's Gate. Even throughout the entire Sword Coast, your great name is widely celebrated."

"We are very sorry to take up your valuable time, Master, but we urgently need to seek your profound wisdom."

Tylanthyr nodded, seemingly pleased. "Well said."

Then his expression changed. "But it was all nonsense. Seek wisdom? Wisdom must be acquired through one's own efforts, not bestowed by others. If you want to listen, then my first lesson for you is this: speak plainly!"

"I don't know where you learned this half-baked noble twaddle, but do you think such foolish and empty flattery can move a wizard who still possesses his reason? If you're a wizard, don't you know that we pursue truth rather than worldly praise?" The Archmage showed no mercy. His tirade embarrassed someone so thoroughly that his face flushed red, and he wished he could crawl into a crack in the ground.

This was more than eccentricity. This was the absolute pinnacle of eccentricity!

It also snapped Zhang Yuan awake. When dealing with the wizard community, the principle that excessive courtesy never offended anyone might not be more effective than being open, frank, and direct. These people might well be thousand-year-old foxes; there was no point trying to read them like ghost stories.

After calming himself and reorganizing his words, Zhang Yuan became much more straightforward. "Master Tylanthyr, I heard that the lord of High Hedge Castle is an Archmage, so I came here to become his apprentice. I am an Innate Awakener without a mentor, and I also came seeking an opportunity on the recommendation of Master Banterley Mirror Image."

"An Innate Awakener? Now that's rare." Tylanthyr showed interest for the first time. "That makes sense. If you weren't an Innate Awakener, it would be astonishing for someone with your intelligence to become a wizard."

Are you still insulting me? Someone clenched his teeth and held it in.

"But even if you have good talent, what does that have to do with me? I have never taken on an apprentice. Why should I make an exception for you?" Tylanthyr composed his expression.

Zhang Yuan was stumped. For a moment, he did not know how to answer. No matter how much he thought about it, he could not find anything that might move the other party. If someone had already made up his mind not to take an apprentice, then no matter how talented you were, there was nothing you could do.

Give him a gift? What could an Archmage possibly lack? Even if he did lack something, Zhang Yuan probably could not afford it even if he sold himself.

Appeal to his interests? What did he like? Raising flowers and plants? Making Constructs? Wait—Constructs? Golems?

Thinking of the other party's fondness for golems, he could not help looking over.

He saw that Tylanthyr's gaze had not fallen on the three of them at all. Instead, he was looking at Xiaoxiao, the little chess piece, with great interest.

Carrying his guess in mind, Zhang Yuan spoke. "This is my summon, similar to an earth elemental or a stone construct."

"A summon? You mean you summoned this with a spell?" This genuinely took Tylanthyr by surprise. He had thought it was a new type of construct, or perhaps a beggar's version of a Stone Golem.

From the very beginning, Tylanthyr had never considered that it was an earth elemental or stone elemental. Not only would an Archmage obviously recognize the characteristics of an elemental creature, but spells capable of summoning earth elementals or stone constructs required at least sixth-circle conjuration magic.

He did not believe that the little wizard before him, who radiated the aura of I'm a rookie, could possess a caster level of at least 12.

"Otherwise, why do you think I let a few brainless adventurers like you enter? If every adventurer could enter my wizard tower, and I had to spend time sending idiots away every day, would I still have time to conduct research and experiments? Buying magic items? Do you think I'm that general store owner, Habasser?"

Although Tylanthyr's scolding had made him feel as if his intelligence had been cut down by a notch, someone managed to pull himself together through sheer shamelessness. Since he possessed something the other party was interested in, there was still hope.

"I named this Stone Golem Xiaoxiao. He really was summoned by me with Summon Monster I." Zhang Yuan tried his best to explain Xiaoxiao's origins without exposing his cheat. "While I was learning this spell with Master Banterley's help, I suddenly connected to a plane inhabited by various mechanical constructs and creatures. Xiaoxiao was summoned from there."

From beginning to end, Zhang Yuan had not dared to lie. After all, a spell for detecting lies was child's play for an Archmage. For all he knew, the wizard tower might even have the spell permanently established within it.

"A plane of machines and constructs? Could it be the Clockwork Mechanical Plane of Absolute Law, Mechanus?" Tylanthyr began to speculate. "But your spell probe could not possibly have pointed toward another outer plane for no reason. Unless someone tampered with your spell's magical beacon, or some entity from Mechanus planted a space-time anchor on you, turning your summoning spell into a specific signal."