Eternal Life?

If any players heard that Zhao Xu could receive the benefits of a Wish Spell, they would definitely stand up and protest.

They would not care what qualifications Zhao Xu had to receive such treatment.

In truth, TC had no ability to influence Arthur at all.

This had long been known in later generations. Even the higher-ups could not explain the origins of the test accounts.

For now, Arthur still maintained a direct balance among players, and no players had obtained anything that seriously disrupted that balance.

The main reason was that Arthur's major powers truly did not think much of the players yet.

Moreover, Arthur's Magic Items could all be mass-produced. As for artifacts, the only things that could not be mass-produced, even the major powers had no surplus stock.

Throughout his Previous Life, even ten years later, not a single Earth player had obtained an artifact.

Magic was terrifying, but magic still followed the rules of magic.

If an attack could penetrate, it penetrated. If something could be immune, it was immune.

Only artifacts could defy reason.

When Zhao Xu heard Antinoa's proposal, his first thought was that she might as well cash it out and give him 25,000 GP. Then he could use that money to run a business and manufacture goods in Arthur.

There really had been players in his Previous Life who did that sort of business. The main issue was that starting capital troubled most people; players were all poor.

For 25,000 GP, adding another half would bring it to the price of an Intelligence Headband with a +6 Enhancement Bonus to Intelligence—36,000 GP.

An Intelligence Headband +4 cost only 16,000 GP. That would be more than enough, with plenty left over to trade for two more +2 attribute items.

Yet Antinoa's proposal of +1 Intelligence was worlds apart from +4 or +6.

But the calculation was not that simple.

Bonuses of the same name did not stack. If Zhao Xu wore an Intelligence Headband +6 in the future, even finding an Intelligence Necklace +6 would be useless.

Equipment provided Enhancement Bonuses, and only the highest one took effect.

However, the "+1" Intelligence bonus provided by the Wish Spell could stack, because it was an inherent bonus.

To gain an inherent bonus, one needed either the corresponding attribute-boosting books, such as the Book of Clear Thinking, or a Wish Spell.

But the price was eternal life?

Arthur's ninth-level spells were so famous that even players who had never encountered one in their lives would boast about them upon hearing their names. Over time, it became impossible to keep them secret.

Yet Zhao Xu had never heard of a ninth-level spell called Kissed By the Ages, one that granted eternal life.

That meant it was a closely guarded secret, the kind he could not even copy from a book if he wanted to.

Perhaps if he missed this chance, he would have to wait until he died of old age in his seventies or eighties.

Antinoa might not give him another chance. If she were truly that easygoing, she could simply cast thirty-six ninth-level Wish Spells on him, one for each point in his six attributes.

Eternal life.

After everyone crossed over, this had become undeniably real.

Even long-lived Elves would be about eight hundred years old when it was time to meet the Elf God.

After crossing over, if he hid in the Floating City as a lazy good-for-nothing under the pretense of conducting spell research, he might truly stay there until the very moment the Floating City was destroyed.

Zhao Xu lowered his head and weighed the gains and losses.

Eternal life.

One point of Intelligence.

A choice no one else would hesitate over in the slightest had left Zhao Xu in deep confusion.

Slowly, beneath Antinoa's amused gaze, Zhao Xu's eyes gradually brightened.

Being a lazy good-for-nothing for a lifetime was still being a lazy good-for-nothing.

He would rather burn brilliantly for that single moment.

"I choose the second option—"

Just as Zhao Xu was about to finish showing off, he suddenly stopped. Looking slightly embarrassed, he added, "Mentor, if I read the Book of Clear Thinking in the future, or receive the effect of another Wish Spell, can they stack?"

It was not that Antinoa did not know, but if Zhao Xu did not ask about certain things, she would not volunteer them.

Zhao Xu still had to get this crucial point straight.

"Neither will." Antinoa rejected the idea outright.

Upon hearing that, Zhao Xu nearly went cold all over.

Unless he was willing to settle for only one point of inherent Intelligence bonus for the rest of his life, would he have to start over from scratch if he wanted to improve it later?

Would the point he had traded eternal life for simply become worthless?

One point of Intelligence was not worth that much even if it were forged from platinum.

"To increase inherent attribute bonuses, Wish Spells must be cast consecutively—five Wish Spells in a row. Otherwise, adventurers walking the streets would all be carrying thirty-six points of inherent bonuses," Antinoa said indifferently.

The resolve Zhao Xu had finally managed to gather was immediately shattered by half.

At this point, there was nothing else he could do.

He continued looking at Antinoa. "The second path."

Antinoa raised an eyebrow and looked at Zhao Xu. "Learning the spell Kissed By the Ages is easy, but there are limited slots for receiving it. We need permission and approval before casting it on anyone."

"So if you miss this opportunity, you may not get another one in the future. Otherwise, that old man Mokar you saw today would not have aged into such a decrepit state."

"If he were truly greedy for the Intelligence bonus brought by aging, he should have received this spell after enjoying it. But he simply does not have the qualifications."

"So, do you regret it?"

Zhao Xu shook his head.

What he needed was to increase his strength quickly and strive to improve himself within this year after crossing over.

If he had been a native of Arthur, he would naturally have chosen eternal life and taken his time gaining strength.

But he was not.

Besides, Zhao Xu was confident that once he became powerful, he would definitely be able to earn himself a chance at eternal life.

After a while, Zhao Xu considered his words and said,

"Better to cry out and die than remain silent and live."

Zhao Xu said that sentence directly in Chinese.

He knew these Wizards had many spells made permanent on themselves, usually including the Silver Tongue Spell.

It allowed them to understand the languages of other creatures and communicate with them.

What Antinoa heard was surely translated rather plainly.

But as long as the meaning got across, that was enough.

To live gloriously, or die gloriously.

However, Zhao Xu's true intention was simply to strengthen himself and protect his family. As for accomplishing some extraordinary feat, that could wait.

Once his level was high enough, if he did not honestly cover himself in all kinds of triggered, protective, resurrection, teleportation, and immunity spells, he would absolutely never go out adventuring.

But he needed to let Antinoa know that he was not a lazy good-for-nothing. He had a strong desire to climb upward.

If she had any insanely powerful abilities or Feats, she should hurry up and throw them at him.

"Then work hard." Antinoa looked utterly unconcerned.

Hearing that, Zhao Xu felt awkward.

Why was this not the part where she said, "Since you're so ambitious, I'll give you both"?

Zhao Xu nearly slapped his thigh and cursed himself for being stupid.

He had not expressed the wrong sentiments; he had expressed them to the wrong person.

A Legendary Mage like Antinoa might not have put many ranks into a skill like Read Expressions, but that would not stop her from casually casting a spell to raise its skill rank to an extremely high level.

High enough to see through his true intentions at a glance.

It seemed that when dealing with Arthur's high-level Wizards in the future, he had better be honest and stop thinking about playing tricks.

Just as Zhao Xu resolved to stop acting from now on, he saw Antinoa raise her hand and point directly at him.

There was no chant, no casting gesture.

Just like last time, a flash of spiritual light passed by.

The world remained calm and peaceful.

But Zhao Xu saw the attributes on his Character Card.

Intelligence: 17 (+3) = 16 (natural) + 1 (inherent)

He had truly gained one point of Intelligence.

"And one more thing: I lied about the approval process for eternal-life slots. When you reach level 17, I'll teach you this spell. Then you can cast it on whoever you want."

Damn it, who said female Wizards could not lie?

Thanks to "Xiege" for the Qidian Coin reward. Much appreciated.