The Zhentarim's Plot

The night was already half over. The gloomy clouds that had gathered in the sky gradually dispersed, and the cold moonlight once more spilled across the vast earth. The piercing wind howled past, joining the fierce clanging of weapons as the two fighters battled atop the hill in a grim, murderous tune.

Ryan's sun-bright golden hair danced wildly as he moved. The staff in his hands swung and jabbed, striking hard at the thief's head, heart, and lower body—every vital point. As the saying went, an inch longer meant an inch stronger. Wielding the man-high Cold Iron Staff, Ryan ruthlessly squeezed the thief's fighting space, forcing him to wield his dual blades in an ever tighter area.

Yefalin likely never would have guessed that the usually quiet and modest Ryan could fight so ferociously, like an enraged male lion defending his territory.

The situation looked overwhelmingly favorable, but Ryan knew that his position wasn't as comfortable as it seemed. He had only been able to suppress the thief thanks to the boosts from Bull's Strength and Cat's Grace. No matter how useful they were, these buffs were still merely low-level second-circle spells and couldn't last forever. Once they wore off, the thief would have his chance to counterattack.

The thief, clearly an experienced fighter, understood this as well. After his initial shock and frustration, he had already recovered, relying on his agility and superb dagger skills to defend perfectly against Ryan's fierce staff attacks. His calm, ruthless eyes brimmed with murderous intent and patience.

Ryan smoothly jabbed the pointed end of his staff toward the thief's abdomen. At the same time, he multitasked, chanting a spell and using the sapphire on his staff to fire a fist-sized Magic Missile at the thief's head.

The thief twisted his dagger and shifted his body, slipping past the staff as it whistled toward him. Shadow energy coated the dagger's gleaming blade, and with a sudden slash, he split the incoming Magic Missile in two.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk. Looks like this assassin came prepared. He even has divine magic specifically designed to counter spells." Ryan clicked his tongue in admiration while keeping the thief's movement restricted.

"Looks like I'll have to spend a little more." The Mage silently weighed his options, considering which method would be best for dealing with his opponent.

But just then, the magical warning wards Ryan had placed near the hill detected a living creature approaching. Ryan's thoughts shifted. He connected to the Spell Eye high above and looked in that direction, only to see the beautiful Half-elf Ranger from the adventuring party riding a Black Panther toward them.

An idea came to Ryan. He adjusted the brightness of the glowing orb summoned by his Light Spell, making it flash repeatedly in the Elvish spelling of the words "enemy" and "ambush."

The thief glanced at the suddenly erratic light, baffled. He couldn't figure out what Ryan was trying to do, so he assumed the strange Mage had come up with another trick and became even more cautious as he parried.

Following the Orc tracks all the way there, Jelona heard the sounds of fighting ahead. She leaped from the Black Panther's back and carefully crept through the darkness toward the noise.

When Jelona saw what was happening, she couldn't help but gasp in shock.

She recognized the Mage by his familiar dark robe, but she never would have guessed that the mysterious Mage in the caravan was a handsome young man with golden hair.

Even more absurdly, the boy was wielding an ornate staff that looked incredibly heavy as he fought up close with a black-clad man who looked like a thoroughly unsavory character. Jelona felt as if she were hallucinating. The worldview she had worked so hard to build was starting to crumble.

Then the flashing orb caught Jelona's attention. She stared at it, murmuring to herself, "This light? Enemy? Ambush?"

After thinking it over for a moment, Jelona decided to trust the Mage who had helped the caravan win its battle against the Orcs single-handedly.

She took a deep breath, drew a steel arrow from the quiver on her back, and nocked it. The excellent eyesight she had inherited from her half-Elven blood allowed Jelona to see the two fighters' movements clearly from several hundred feet away. She aimed at the thief's back, focused all her concentration, and unleashed the Elven archery technique Rapid Shot.

Ryan watched the Elf's movements through his Spell Eye. He swung his staff with all his strength at the thief's head and shouted, "Take this, Fireball!" Then he closed his eyes and turned the Light Spell's brightness up to maximum.

When the dark Elf heard the words "Fireball," he instantly focused warily on Ryan's staff. The thief had personally witnessed the power of Ryan's Fireball and never considered that at such close range, detonating one would leave neither of them with enough of a body to bury. Ryan, who valued his life, wasn't about to trade it for his opponent's.

But when the thief looked over, all he saw was a dazzling, blinding white light. His eyes stung, and his vision blurred. Ryan had cleverly lowered the brightness with the orb's flashing pattern beforehand, making the sudden change from darkness to light all the more jarring. The thief had fallen for it completely.

The thief knew something was wrong. At that very moment, an arrow came whistling toward his back. The dark Elf heard the sound cut through the air and, drawing on years of experience, twisted away with all his strength. His agile body turned in midair as he tried to evade the arrow from afar through sheer speed.

Seeing that the dark Elf had managed to use his extraordinary agility and keen hearing to locate the arrow and was about to dodge the deadly shot, Ryan secretly cast Mage Hand and deflected the speeding arrow. It shot straight into the thief's back.

The thief had thought he'd dodged the blow to a vital spot, and his face filled with disbelief as the arrow pierced his heart. He dropped from the air, spat out a large mouthful of blood, and glared hatefully at Ryan. He still tried to push himself up from the ground.

Ryan smiled faintly. An unexpected bonus—looks like he wouldn't have to reveal the trick he'd been keeping hidden.

The Half-elf Ranger was then fortunate enough to witness a horrifying sight.

The handsome, cheerful young man with golden hair wore a sunny smile, but the staff in his hands struck with terrifying force, whistling through the air as he brought it down on the dying thief's head again and again. Blood sprayed everywhere.

By the time Jelona reached them, the unlucky dark Elf's face was unrecognizable. He had gone to meet his god.

The boy stopped swinging his staff, raised a hand to wipe the spots of blood on his face, and smiled brightly at the astonished Half-elf Ranger.

"Thank you very much for your help." When Jelona came over, Ryan thanked her sincerely.

Jelona curiously studied Ryan's slightly disheveled face after the fight. She was genuinely dazzled by his handsome, radiant looks.

What surprised Jelona even more, though, was how ruthlessly and mercilessly the boy had just struck. As a battle-hardened adventurer, she certainly wouldn't have been saintly enough to spare an enemy.

Still, looking at such a young and inexperienced boy, no one would have guessed he could fight with such savage determination. To be honest, Jelona admired that about him. On the road of adventure, sometimes you had to be ruthless, or you might be the one lying in the dirt.

"It was only right. In a way, we're comrades-in-arms."

The bright red specks of blood on the boy's handsome face looked striking. Jelona set aside her usual cool reserve and answered the young Mage with a smile.

"By the way, why were you fighting someone like this, um, thief?" Jelona asked curiously, glancing at the dead thief with his head bashed in at her feet.

"Who knows? Maybe one of my enemies has taken a dislike to me and finally found a chance to give me some trouble."

The golden-haired boy shrugged and replied nonchalantly.

He knew that as he raced along the path of magic, he had unknowingly stepped on a lot of people's toes. It was only his teacher's protection and his own strength that had kept those troubles from reaching him.

Now that Ryan had finally left Silverymoon, plenty of people were bound to make a move. Still, he found the situation puzzling. The people he had offended didn't seem capable of finding out the specifics of his mission.

"The dead can sometimes be more useful than the living. Sometimes a corpse can talk, too. Let's see what this assassin has to tell us."

With that, Ryan crouched beside the dead dark Elf and searched his clothes for clues.

"Found something. There's a letter here." After searching for a while, Ryan found a letter sewn into the thief's inner lining.

"Hope it isn't a love letter." Ryan smiled as he opened it, but when he saw what it said, his expression changed and his brow furrowed.

Jelona glanced at Ryan, whose face had suddenly darkened, and asked curiously, "Well? What does it say?"

Ryan let out a breath and replied, "He's with the Zhentarim."

Jelona was startled and couldn't help exclaiming, "The Zhentarim! How did you end up provoking that pack of lunatics?"

Faerûn was vast and home to countless races. Alongside the countless remarkable stories and legends that flourished there, darkness and evil had also taken root, giving rise to all manner of wicked organizations. The Zhentarim were among the most prominent.

The Zhentarim were an evil organization made up of evil-aligned wizards, Clerics, rogues, and warriors, whose goal was to seize control of the Realms. If they couldn't directly control something, they wouldn't hesitate to use every kind of terror to force it into submission or secretly weaken it until it could no longer threaten the Black Network and had no choice but to obey.

The Zhentarim had long worked to establish a monopoly over trade routes connecting the major cities of the Moonsea, the Sea of Fallen Stars, and the Sword Coast, especially Waterdeep. This involved trading goods and hiring mercenaries in violation of existing laws and local restrictions. Among the highly profitable items they dealt in were illegal poisons, harmful narcotics, weapons, and slaves.

They also secretly spread their intelligence network, infiltrating every political center in the Moonsea region. They were ruthless and merciless, killing anyone who stood in their way. Their many targets included Storm Silverhand and Elminster in Shadowdale; Cormyr's army, including King Azoun and the court Mage Dahast, a pioneer and leader of the War Wizards; the Church of Cyric; Mulmaster; Far Hills; every merchant fleet and trade organization that maintained ties with the Sword Coast; and a good-aligned organization called the Harpers.

Although Ryan was confident he had a few tricks up his sleeve, he was still a boy in the middle of growing up. Picking a fight with one of the most terrifying organizations in Faerûn was for fools.

Ryan was deeply troubled to have provoked a group of such powerful lunatics. He glanced helplessly at the Planeswalker talent progress bar, which was nearly unlocked, and thought, Worst comes to worst, I'll run off to another world and lie low. I refuse to believe they can hunt me across worlds!

He glanced at Jelona, who still seemed flustered, and reassured her:

"Don't worry. He didn't get any message out before he died, so the Zhentarim won't know we killed him anytime soon. And once we reach Waterdeep, I'll contact my family and the local Mages Guild. The Zhentarim don't rule the world."

Jelona realized she had lost her composure. She couldn't help feeling ashamed. Compared with the boy, who had already recovered from his initial surprise, she was a rather poor excuse for an adventurer.

But the Half-elf Ranger's alarm was understandable. The Zhentarim's infamy in the North was enough to silence a crying child. Anyone would panic upon learning they might be targeted by those lunatics. Only Ryan, confident he had a way out, could remain so calm.

Ryan glanced speechlessly at the blushing Half-elf and took stock of his own Charisma score: 20 (18+1+1, equipment bonuses cannot exceed the superhuman limit).

The Mage silently complained to himself, She just believed me like that. Should I say that high Charisma lets you get away with anything? Sure enough, no matter what world you're in, whether Elf or human, everyone's a sucker for appearances.

"Enough. The caravan is still waiting for us. Let's take care of the corpse and our tracks, then head back. Everyone must be getting worried."

"Mm, all right." Jelona came back to herself and immediately nodded in agreement.

Seeing that he'd managed to fool her, Ryan breathed a sigh of relief and secretly slipped the letter in his hand into his pocket dimension.

In truth, Ryan hadn't lied to Jelona. The thief really was with the Zhentarim. But he hadn't told her everything.

"Saber, the organization has assigned you to hunt down a Mage from Silverymoon. An item he carries is vital to the organization's plans. Be sure to complete the mission and bring the item to the Waterdeep branch. Obtain specific intelligence from the relevant personnel. —The Zhentarim, Fuzhuo"

That was the full text of the letter. It was exactly because he'd read it that Ryan had decided to keep the truth from Jelona.

After all, this matter involved far too much. Neither the plan to establish contact between the Mages Guilds of Silverymoon and Waterdeep, nor the Zhentarim's conspiracy and the grand plan mentioned in the letter, was something an outsider like Jelona should get caught up in.

"Teacher, oh, teacher. You really know how to pick a mission. This time, you've really gotten me into trouble!"

Ryan sighed helplessly, as if he could already see the violent upheaval and raging storm waiting for him in Waterdeep.