At the Threshold

At the Threshold

Zhao Xu found it hard to describe what was going through his mind as he passed through the portal.

Based on his assessment after hearing everything, players who obtained two badges should, upon arriving at Mystra's Mage Association headquarters, be directly offered the chance to become Scroll Scholars and continue down that path.

In truth, the moment the black-robed mage mentioned the name Scroll Scholar, Zhao Xu had been deeply shaken.

Before this, he had never imagined that Earth players would have a chance to encounter this Basic Profession, one no less significant than Wizard or Cleric, on their very first day.

Arthurian World was, at most, just a popular game on Earth.

In an environment where traffic was worth more, many streamer players were not stingy about revealing and sharing game information.

Thanks to the internet, those contents spread without restriction, allowing even an outsider like Zhao Xu to learn about them.

The greatest difference between Basic Professions and Advanced Professions was that Advanced Profession Caster Levels could stack, while Basic Professions could not.

From what the black-robed mage had said, there was no doubt that Zhao Xu would continue down the path of a Wizard.

The problem was that, to take the path of a Scroll Scholar, he first had to multiclass as a level-one Cleric, then become a Scroll Scholar, a duplicate Divine Spellcaster?

Taking a level of Cleric meant that his primary Scroll Scholar path would forever be one level behind everyone else's.

A First-level Wizard could learn First-level Spells, while a Third-level Wizard could learn Second-level Spells.

By the same logic, a fifth-level Wizard could learn Third-level Spells. Most spellcasting professions worked this way.

When other ninth-level Clerics were casting fifth-level Divine Spells like Resurrection Spell, he would only be playing with fourth-level mud.

By the time Zhao Xu emerged in the Floating City after the teleportation cycle ended, he had already regained his composure.

He had roughly figured some things out.

The phrase "the Goddess's will" was quite subtle.

Having him become a Scroll Scholar was the Goddess's will.

Making him multiclass as a level-one Cleric was also the Goddess's will.

The instant he understood that, Zhao Xu directly switched the faith alignment on his character panel to Goddess of Magic Sislvina.

He was ninety percent certain that the Goddess had been watching him from the moment he created his character until he underwent profession selection.

Those statues truly did contain divine power, just as he had vaguely suspected at the time.

The gods used the Creation Temple as their arena of contest, and here they had already begun planning and selecting their followers.

Zhao Xu had been chosen, perhaps because of his Dual Elite qualification.

Or perhaps for some deeper reason.

In any case, if the Goddess needed him to become a Cleric, then she surely needed to strengthen her connection with him.

In the Arthurian World, Clerics, because of the true gods behind them, could be said to be practitioners of divine ideals. Someone claiming to be devout did not necessarily mean much.

But if someone was a Cleric of a certain deity, then their devotion was absolutely beyond doubt.

Because their Cleric levels were proof bestowed by their deity.

Deities could directly grant Clerics Class Levels.

Thus, churches and temples in Arthur were deeply trusted by believers. Their words and actions were entirely consistent, making them something like a true ideal paradise.

Faced with such circumstances, Zhao Xu naturally changed his faith to the Goddess at once.

Faith was a very serious matter.

But the gods were still tolerant toward shallow believers. They were only strict when selecting Clerics.

Every increase in Cleric level required a deity's approval.

Clerics abandoned by the deity they worshipped would lose most of their abilities, including Divine Spells.

At that point, only evil gods and the Abyss and Hell would accept such blasphemers. To them, the souls of Clerics who had betrayed their gods were supreme delicacies.

Still, there were exceptions to everything. Otherwise, Clerics would remain eternally loyal. Gods were not omnipotent, after all.

They could force an unripe melon to become sweet, but they could not make it natural for a melon that should not be sweet to become sweet.

Zhao Xu guessed that if he truly did not believe in the Goddess to the point of living and dying for her, then she naturally would not allow him to become a high-level Cleric.

But merely granting him one Cleric level was likely still permissible for someone she had taken notice of.

That was also why he had boldly decided to embrace her faith.

Otherwise, she could have simply made him a Scroll Scholar. Why force him to multiclass as a level-one Cleric along the second path?

The Goddess needed his level-one Cleric status as an anchor, while he likewise needed the Goddess's favor to gain an advantage in the great struggles to come.

As for whether the Goddess would tolerate him becoming a Cleric despite not being a devout believer, that depended on whether she was willing to grant him that favor.

If she truly refused, he could simply become an Alignment Faith Cleric instead.

At the very least, four years later, the entire Northern Lands would begin to fall into chaos. The Abyss and Hell would invade once more. If Zhao Xu had not reached level ten by then, he would not dare claim he could keep his whole family safe.

In his Previous Life, Zhao Xu had been conscripted away during that very unrest.

As a result, his hometown had been destroyed by a passing Black Dragon.

Countless people died throughout the Northern Lands during that great upheaval.

Many Earthlings who had crossed over as mere level-one commoners were wiped out by that chaos.

It was also then that Earth's transmigrator population desperately squeezed into adventuring Basic Professions.

Non-adventuring Basic Professions such as tutor, Noble Family member, and expert plummeted in popularity.

By the time Zhao Xu finished thinking through all this, his teleportation had just completed.

He slowly walked out and saw a hall more than ten times larger than the one before.

At the same time, the hall was densely packed with identical portals, like a forest of monuments.

Along one side of the hall stood an entire row of Spell Guards, watching over order throughout the hall.

People emerged from the portals from time to time.

On the wall directly opposite those portals, a group of staff members had set up desks and were busily working.

Before Zhao Xu could ask anything, a female attendant approached him. Her features were quite delicate, reminding Zhao Xu of the aesthetic standards Arthur had cultivated in him over eight or nine years.

"Honored mage, please come this way to register again." After saying that, she stood to the side and waited for Zhao Xu to move.

Basically, every portal had guiding attendants like her serving and receiving visitors.

Thinking about it, that black-robed mage earlier had probably come specifically for him. Could it be that he had simply wanted to see what Zhao Xu looked like?

The thought sent a shiver down Zhao Xu's spine.

The attendant in front of him continued waiting attentively, without the slightest hint of irritation. Zhao Xu could not very well keep her waiting, so he quickly followed.

As they walked, he asked, "Surely those high-level mages don't enter through these portals too?"

Zhao Xu knew that entering through portals was the safest method,

both for the mages and for the defenses of this Floating City.

These Floating Cities, which Mystra had raised at enormous cost, were probably not only satellite cities for the main city but also its final embers.

Teleportation Spells were an unattainable luxury to most people.

But in high-level battles, they could not be ignored.

Zhao Xu had witnessed it in one campaign, where a group of high-level adventurers descended from the sky through Teleportation Spells.

As far as Zhao Xu knew, this Floating City was enormous, but its projection did not fully cover all of Mystra. It could only be said that these Floating Cities were too high, so high that even flying creatures could not reach them.

Naturally, teleportation was the only remaining route of attack.

"These cities have all been laid with a Mythal. Only those who have been recognized can cast Teleportation Spells to enter." The attendant spoke softly, just loud enough for Zhao Xu to hear without disturbing anyone else.

Zhao Xu froze. He had not heard much about that in his Previous Life.

Too few players had been born in Mystra. That group stood at the very peak of the pyramid.

He suddenly understood what the post explaining the Spell Guard advancement had meant by a mark. It had said that this thing, which provided no abilities and served only as proof, had an enormous use.

So that was it. An Advanced Profession ability was actually used to pass through a Floating City's Mythal.

As Zhao Xu knew, profession abilities were among the hardest things to counterfeit or pirate.

Compared to a magic mark that allowed unrestricted teleportation into a Floating City, this was much more secure.

Because every Spell Guard was carefully selected, and traitors would lose their profession abilities.

Thinking of that, Zhao Xu grew solemn.

Sure enough, every city in Arthur that had endured for millennia possessed its own foundation.

At last, Zhao Xu reached the desks ahead.

After the other party briefly verified his letter of recommendation and the badges on it, they handed him a ring of keys and had the attendant lead him to his future dormitory before turning to receive others.

After hearing that, Zhao Xu followed the attendant with a bewildered expression.

The entire way, he wandered in circles through the castle. Before he had even breathed the outside air, they had already reached the dormitory.

The attendant did not say anything else before taking her leave to receive the next person, leaving Zhao Xu even more confused.

In his Previous Life, when he underwent Fighter training, they had dragged him directly to the training grounds. A group of burly men immediately put him through drills, correcting everything from combat stances to how to dodge and respond to attacks.

Then, after choosing Feats, they began practicing those Feats until they were successfully activated.

One stage followed another in a tightly packed sequence. Some players could even finish training and head alone into the wilderness to adventure before going to sleep that night.

Unlike Zhao Xu, who had not been told about any courses and was simply sent to a dormitory first.

He did not even sleep in Arthur. What did he need a dormitory for?

Shaking his head, Zhao Xu pushed open the door to his dormitory and stepped inside.

Then he froze.