Wolfblade

"We can go now, right?" Bald Bill gave an awkward laugh.

"You know when to yield and when to stand firm. Too bad your judgment is lacking." Anse spoke indifferently.

"You're right." Bald Bill smiled obsequiously, but inwardly he couldn't stop ranting:

Why don't you people look in a mirror first? You're filthy and ragged from head to toe. The one in the back looks like a savage, the one in front is a laborer, and your weapons look ancient. The three of you together couldn't scrape together a complete suit of armor...

Anse had no idea what the other man was thinking. He had always felt pretty good about himself.

"I want to ask you something. Have you seen the Magic Initiate from Fabian's Mage Tower? He also came from Brampton District."

"Uh..." Bald Bill thought for several seconds, then shook his head. "I don't remember seeing one."

"Then who told you that Mages can't cast spells?" Anyone who dared provoke a Mage had to be up to something.

"Everyone's heard about it. There's a cult recruiting people. They say the world is undergoing great changes, and a blue storm that will sweep away everything is about to arrive. They claim that joining them will grant you a legendary blessing—the Divine Scar—and the power to wield some kind of magic..."

"The Blue Flame Cult?"

"I think that was the name."

"You can go. I hope we don't run into each other again."

"Of course, of course..."

Anse swept his gaze around, and everyone nearby hurriedly avoided his eyes.

"Let's go to the Adventurers Guild."

The three of them quickly left. Someone had already noticed what happened, and if they stayed any longer, they might attract trouble.

Brat looked rather unhappy. If he hadn't softened earlier and let the other side think they were easy targets, the conflict might never have happened.

"It had nothing to do with you." Anse caught up with him in a few steps. "Some people have noses sharper than dogs'. Carrying this much stuff, conflict was inevitable. We just happened to use the opportunity to intimidate everyone else."

"Mm." Brat acknowledged him.

Now that they had formed a party, he inevitably had more things to consider.

"What's the Blue Flame Cult?" he asked, changing the subject.

"It was a heretical organization that rose during the Arcane Blight. After the Goddess of Magic returned, it vanished into history long ago. It should be some ill-intentioned people impersonating them to make money." Anse gave a brief explanation.

"Oh." A strange smile appeared on Brat's face. "Who would've thought that one day, spellcasters would become soft persimmons."

Anse chuckled and said nothing.

Mages had always stood above others, synonymous with status and wealth. Now that they had fallen into the mud, plenty of people wanted to come over and stomp on them.

But he knew this was only temporary. The Mages had never lacked geniuses.

Livington District wasn't very large. A main road extended south from Flying Dragon Bridge, running through the entire district and leading straight to the Coast Way outside the city.

This was the busiest street in Rivington, also known as Middle Street. The buildings on both sides were tall and imposing, and patrols were constantly on guard. Both public safety and sanitation were much better than elsewhere.

With Brat leading the way, they found the landmark gray-and-white Stone Tower east of the main avenue in the city center.

The Stone Tower had five floors and covered more than a thousand square meters. It had a rear courtyard, and behind the courtyard stood an even larger warehouse.

"I've been here before." Anse recalled the place.

He was a local and knew about this place, but he had never entered. Those Adventurers carrying knives and swords looked rather dangerous.

"This is a branch of the Watchers Guild. Its headquarters is in Sea Tower District. It's one of the most famous Adventurers Guilds in Faerûn..." Brat explained.

Toril was vast. Almost all guilds were local organizations, and even the strongest guilds couldn't cover the entire continent of Faerûn. Communication alone was a major problem.

Baldur's Gate had several Adventurers Guilds, and the Watchers Guild was the largest. It was mainly distributed along the Sword Coast, with dozens of branches covering an area stretching more than a thousand kilometers around Baldur's Gate. It even ranked among the top ten Adventurers Guilds, making it quite powerful.

Like other Adventurers Guilds, the Watchers Guild's core business was accepting commissions, including adventures, exploration, escorting, and procurement. It also handled intelligence trading, equipment and material sales, lodging, meals, medical care, and skill training.

In essence, it was an Adventurer service organization established for profit.

"There are a lot of people." Finn watched the crowds coming and going, his face once again frozen into that rigid expression. He was the very picture of a socially anxious young man.

Anse patted Brat on the shoulder. "The rest is up to you."

"Come on. Let's find out the latest intelligence first." Brat climbed the steps and headed straight for the hall. Anse and Finn hurried after him.

The first-floor hall occupied two stories in height. Three walls were covered with various commissions, divided by color into five areas.

The wall facing the entrance had a row of windows specifically providing various services for Adventurers.

Brat swept his gaze around. Familiar memories surfaced in his mind, and a trace of nostalgia appeared in his eyes.

He led the two of them straight to a row of bulletin boards in the center of the hall. "This is the public notice area. Everything posted here is public information. You can quickly learn about recent events..."

Anse glanced over the boards and found that most of the notices concerned major events around Baldur's Gate. They were arranged chronologically, and all the important news from the past three years was included. The content was simply too brief.

"It's more or less the same as the Baldur's Gate Gazette." He shook his head.

"Haha, most of it is copied from the Gazette." Brat laughed. "How could truly valuable intelligence be given away for free?"

Anse's lips twitched. He hadn't expected this kind of operation. He wondered whether they had paid the copyright fees.

He followed the publication dates backward and found the latest few notices.

[In the Month of Summer Tides, 1699 Dalereckoning, the Weave became unstable, triggering one disaster after another. The urban districts of Baldur's Gate fell, and the city's connection to the Underdark...]

[Gray Dwarves invaded Baldur's Gate. The Flaming Fist suffered a crushing defeat...]

"There's nothing useful here." He shook his head, somewhat disappointed.

What he really wanted to know was how the other factions of the Lords' Alliance had reacted. Had they provided assistance? Had other parts of Faerûn suffered different disasters? Were there any ribbon-like storms resembling the Blue Flame?

News traveled far too slowly in this world. He could only gain a general understanding of the region he was in. Other areas were shrouded in fog, and he could learn about them only through hearsay. It made him extremely uncomfortable.

"You can pay for intelligence, but it's expensive." Brat smiled. "Come on. Let's get settled first."

"Okay."

He brought them to the window area in the north, then followed a corridor on one side into another small hall. A banner hung across the wall, bearing the words Adventurers Home.

There was a counter in the small hall. A Halfling sat behind it, fiddling with several Dice.

Brat took a small silver shield-shaped token from his coat and placed it on the counter. "One large room."

The Halfling looked up at them, picked up the token, and began registering them. "Wolfblade, number 0071-02-05-237529, Intermediate Adventurer. One large room, five Silver Coins per night. Room and water only. How many days will you stay?"

"One day for now." Ignoring Anse's strange look, Brat pulled a large money pouch from his pack, counted out sixty Copper Coins, and placed them on the counter.

Seeing that they were all Copper Coins, the Halfling looked displeased. He leaned over the counter and extended his small, furry hand to count them for a long while. After confirming that there were ten extra Copper Coins, his face immediately bloomed with delight.

"That's right, that's right..."

He muttered as he put the ten Copper Coins into his own money pouch. Then he swept the remaining coins into a drawer, grabbed a key from beneath the counter, and tossed it to Brat.

"You came at just the right time. Only two rooms are left. Go to Room 28 on the third floor. It faces the sun, it's clean, and it has a washroom. Stay with peace of mind. If anything gets lost, we'll compensate you."

"Many thanks, many thanks." Brat took back his Adventurer badge, beckoned to Anse and Finn, and climbed the stairs in the corner of the small hall.

Anse watched silently the entire time, leaving everything to Brat.

When they reached the third floor and saw that the corridor was empty, he couldn't help asking, "Wolfblade? Is that even a species?"

He had nearly lost his composure when he heard the name earlier. If he hadn't transmigrated, he would've thought Brat was also a fan of Wolfblade.

Brat gave an awkward laugh. "It exists. I have green eyes, and my canine teeth stuck out when I was little. My companions all said I looked like a Wolfblade, so... haha..."

"Haha..." Anse smiled. Brat's canine teeth were indeed distinctive. "There are actually vacant rooms here. I thought the place would've been packed long ago."

"The Adventurers Guild only provides lodging and food for Intermediate Adventurers and above. Each person can reserve at most one room, but they can bring two people with them." Brat explained.

"Mm. If there weren't any requirements, we probably wouldn't have been able to stay here." Anse secretly counted his blessings. "How are Adventurers ranked?"

"Adventurers and Adventure Groups are both divided into five ranks, from one to five." Brat replied, "People just usually call them Novice, Intermediate, Advanced, Master, and Legendary.

"Some guilds name them according to the material of their badges: Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, and Arcana..."