Twin Stars

Ryan took the lead, stepping through the long-sealed gates into the cavern. To his surprise, the air inside was not the stagnant, decaying breath of ages he had expected, but carried the fresh scent of mountain soil and grass. Seeing the leopard through a tube, Ryan immediately realized that this ancient "laboratory" buried deep within the mountains possessed a powerful, self-contained ventilation system. From this small detail, he could infer the whole; Ryan couldn't help but feel both anticipation and caution for the trial ahead.

At this moment, the group of mages from the Waterdeep Mages Guild had left Ryan and his companions far behind. Seeing this, Ryan signaled for his companions to follow, skillfully casting a magical shield upon himself. With the teleportation spell stored within the [Ring of Aelinsus] on his slender, fair finger ready to trigger, Ryan, confident in his ability to react to any sudden situation, decisively took the lead.

After navigating a few turns in the corridor behind the entrance, they reached a flight of descending marble stairs. Following the stone steps forward, the path was initially narrow, but after a few dozen paces, it suddenly opened up.

Passing through a stone gate, Ryan's eyes brightened as a vast, empty underground space appeared before him.

The floor, paved with high-quality white marble, shimmered with a warm luster under the bright light source at the ceiling. The uneven floor was carved with intricate, delicate cloud patterns, and several massive white jade pillars distributed symmetrically supported the entire hall. The exquisite mechanical structure and load-bearing design perfectly withstood the pressure from above while lending the entire underground space a sense of majestic grandeur.

In the center of the wide underground space, the group of young mages from the Mages Guild was divided into two distinct factions, seemingly arguing about something.

The mages, who had been perfectly well-behaved in front of Alexander outside, revealed their internal conflicts the moment they entered the ruins. The two groups were led by a stunning, alluring Red-Haired Witch and a gaudily dressed, sour-faced young man, standing in a standoff before the white jade pillar at the center.

Ryan paid no attention to the internal squabbles of the Mages Guild; his gaze was immediately drawn to the white jade pillar in the center of the plaza, which was carved with dragons and phoenixes. The towering dragon coiled around the white jade pillar and the colorful divine phoenix, combined with the plain white marble floor adorned with cloud patterns, made the scene look magnificent and ethereal.

This familiar artistic style, this familiar feeling—Ryan almost had tears in his eyes. He was absolutely certain that the predecessor hidden beneath layers of history was definitely a fellow countryman.

In Ryan's mind, the image of that powerful and terrifying transmigrator predecessor had unconsciously shifted from a mad scientist to a two-dimensional figure collector, a hardcore xianxia enthusiast, and a master craftsman with maxed-out practical skills.

Kasla, the dwarven shield-bearer behind Ryan, saw Ryan standing dazed at the exit, stepped forward, and patted Ryan's thigh, asking curiously, "Ryan, why are you frozen?"

The dwarf followed Ryan's gaze, saw the exquisite jade pillar carved from white jade, and exclaimed, "By Moradin, such a huge piece of moonstone! The ancient mages were truly rich! But why carve these strange, deformed feathered snakes and firebirds on it?" The blunt-spoken dwarf looked on with the regret of someone witnessing a waste of treasure.

Hearing this, Ryan's face darkened. He wanted to grab the dwarf by the collar and correct him loudly in his ear: "Those are divine dragons that command the rivers and seas with ten thousand scales, and divine phoenixes that soar across the world with the five virtues! They aren't some deformed feathered snakes or firebirds!"

But thinking of his situation in another world, where the people of Faerûn had only ever seen the five-colored dragons and metallic dragons, he felt a sense of "a lonely wanderer at the ends of the earth" and lost the urge to argue with this simple-minded dwarf.

With business at hand, Ryan quickly adjusted his mindset, set aside his emotions, and strode into the plaza, immediately drawing the attention of everyone currently in the standoff.

The Red-Haired Witch saw Ryan and the corners of her mouth curled slightly, her crisp voice unable to hide her domineering air: "Alright, no need to argue now. One for each is just right."

Swick's gloomy gaze swept over Ryan, and he spoke with disdain: "Him? A pretty boy who only got in because of his teacher? Valera, have you not woken up yet? Is your brain still fuzzy?"

"Exactly, exactly. Even I am better than that pretty boy. Look at how he was cowering and swallowing his pride earlier." Spike, standing behind Swick, decisively echoed him, perfectly fulfilling the role of a sidekick.

The fiery red-haired beauty narrowed her eyes and said coldly, "Watch your tone, Swick. And keep your dog on a leash. Your uncle can't protect you here."

Swick pouted in annoyance, avoiding a direct confrontation with this savage, manic woman. After all, it wasn't that he was afraid of this crazy woman—"the big picture comes first," Swick comforted himself silently.

However, the frustrated Swick still turned around and, seeing Spike—who had been cowering to the side the moment Valera's cold gaze fell upon them—kicked him angrily and cursed, "Useless trash."

Ryan ignored the farce unfolding before him. With a calm expression, he walked up to where the mages were gathered, only then realizing what these people were arguing about.

Walking around the massive jade pillar, which was about three meters in diameter, Ryan saw that at the end of the space, the path ahead split into three forks.

Beneath the largest dragon-coiled pillar in the plaza, on a base that shone like a mirror, a line of instructions was carved in flowing, elegant Netherese script: "Three paths, three directions; only those acknowledged by wisdom shall obtain the final treasure."

Ryan was speechless; this predecessor was clearly a master of riddles. Ryan guessed that these people had been struggling over which path to choose. After all, these two groups were clearly at odds, and if they split into three groups, neither side trusted the other—who knew if the others would sabotage them along the way?

"How about this: let's explore in three groups. Each group chooses one path and relies on their own ability," Ryan said calmly, looking at the volatile crowd.

Swick was about to mock him, but was interrupted by the Red-Haired Witch, who wore a proud, arrogant smile. The heroic woman nodded at Ryan and said with a hint of wildness: "Good! That suits me perfectly. No matter how much we talk, it ultimately comes down to individual strength. Let's decide it this way. Swick, you aren't hesitating because you're afraid you can't compete, are you?"

The red-haired beauty glanced sideways at Swick with disdain. The simple taunt worked like a charm; Swick's face filled with anger and agitation, and he readily agreed to the proposal.

While satisfied that her plan had succeeded, Valera felt a genuine sense of pity for the elder of the Mages Guild, Swick. To be saddled with such a low-EQ, arrogant, and hot-tempered nephew—even with his high magical talent, he must have been worried sick.

The three teams parted ways at the fork behind the plaza. As they separated, the red-haired beauty winked at Ryan and laughed as wantonly as a queen: "Little handsome, I'm looking forward to your performance."

Hearing this, Swick, who was about to enter the middle path, looked back at Ryan with eyes full of jealousy and gloom. He opened his mouth and mouthed the words, "Kid, this isn't over," before turning and stepping into the path.

Jelona looked unhappily at the red-haired woman who had been flirting with Ryan. A woman's intuition gave her a deep sense of crisis. She gently poked Ryan's back with her fair fingertip and asked, "What's the background of that woman? So arrogant. I don't like her eyes."

Ryan looked at Jelona, who had "unhappy" written all over her face, and found it a bit amusing. A slight curve appeared at the corner of his mouth as he replied, "That is one of the most dazzling figures of this generation in the Waterdeep Mages Guild, known to outsiders as one of the Twin Stars, Valera. She's a turret mage who loves to crush her opponents with evocation magic, but her strength is indeed formidable."

The half-elf ranger secretly compared the gap between them: looks were equal, her own figure was slightly better, but her strength couldn't compare to the other woman's, and she wasn't a mage either. She immediately began to sulk and mutter to herself.

The dwarf, who had been quietly examining the jade pillars in the underground space, discovered a blind spot and asked curiously, "Since she's one of the Twin Stars, who is the other one?"

Ryan paused silently, his expression carrying a hint of oddity and amusement as he glanced at the fork in the middle of the ruins, looking at the dwarf without a word.

"Wait, don't tell me it's that arrogant, stuck-up stinky bug?!" The dwarf looked at the fork, his mouth hanging open in shock.

Ryan simply nodded silently, indicating he did not wish to express any opinion on the matter.

While gathering intelligence, Ryan had paid close attention to the leading figures of this generation in the Mages Guild. When he heard the name "Twin Stars," he dug deeper: the Red-Haired Witch, who was obsessed with the power of fire and ice, possessed the bloodline of a red dragon, and had a temperament as fiery and unrestrained as her red hair; and Swick, who was talented, powerful, wealthy, and "close to billions."

However, unlike Valera, who had earned her title of "Red-Haired Witch" through the bloody slaughter of her trials, Swick had largely achieved his reputation through his powerful family and his uncle, who served as an elder in the Mages Guild, making them the Twin Stars.

Precisely because of this, this guy, who had grown up wantonly under the pampering of his family and the care of his uncle, had developed an arrogant and self-important personality. While throwing his weight around in the Mages Guild, he had gathered a group of sycophantic followers. The only thing he feared was the Red-Haired Witch, who would beat him up without rhyme or reason whenever he provoked her. Of course, there were rumors that Swick provoked her on purpose just to get her attention and enjoy the process of being beaten.

When Ryan learned of these things, he felt like he was watching a cheesy drama from another world. But now that he was one of the parties involved, that feeling of watching the fun vanished. Recalling the vicious look Swick had given him upon parting, Ryan could only sigh: "A beautiful woman is a disaster; the prettier the woman, the more trouble follows."

Putting away his wandering thoughts, Ryan looked at the final fork, sighed softly, and signaled for his companions to step into the unknown.