Sudden Mission

Knowing his mentor's temperament all too well, Ryan set off the moment he received the message; he had no desire to be tossed into the frigid ocean for a winter swim by his unscrupulous teacher for being late again.

Upon reaching the top floor of the wizard tower, he was greeted by two towering, formidable steel golems, while the magical runes etched into the golden nanmu wood doors pulsed with a soft blue light.

"Beep. Please state the magical password," a mechanical voice rang out.

"Asamiyasi," the youth recited the password with a helpless tone, sighing as he added, "Tower Spirit, can you please stop being so rigid? Is there any point in changing the security lock every single day? I have to waste time decrypting it every time I come here."

"Apologies, but this is the Tower Master's order. I will relay your feedback faithfully; whether it is accepted will be decided by the Tower Master," the mechanical, monotonous voice replied.

"Ugh, I'm telling you, sooner or later I'm going to tell Teacher to replace you, you artificial idiot."

Grumbling incessantly, Ryan pushed open the exquisite, opulent doors and shouted, "Teacher, I'm here!"

"You're here, so you're here. Why are you yelling so loudly? I'm not deaf yet."

A cold, melodious voice belonging to a mature woman echoed in Ryan's ears, and he followed the sound with his gaze.

What met his eyes was a noble, elegant, and sexy woman: long, sea-blue hair cascaded over her fair shoulders, and her curvaceous, fiery figure was sunk into a lounge chair upholstered in the fur of a Great Earth Bear. Her two slender, fair legs were propped casually onto the experimental table beside her, which was littered with various spell-casting materials—likely left behind because the owner hadn't bothered to clean up after finishing her experiments.

This beautiful and sexy woman was Ryan's magic teacher in Silverymoon, and the person he shared the deepest bond with in this strange new world.

Don't let her current, seemingly delicate image fool you; she was one of the few legendary spellcasters in Silverymoon, having once obliterated an entire large orc tribe with a single Meteor Swarm. Because of her mastery over divination and evocation magic, she was revered as the "Sage of Stars."

Legend had it that the High Lady of Silverymoon, Alustriel, had met Yefalin during her early adventuring days, and they had traveled across the continent of Faerûn together, experiencing many legendary and magnificent events. It was precisely because of this that Yefalin settled in Silverymoon after becoming a legendary mage, eventually becoming one of the city's Great Mages.

As the most important center of knowledge and culture in the Northlands, Silverymoon was seen as the beacon of hope for the region. On this land, which had long worshipped Mielikki and the unicorn goddess Lurue, Silverymoon had grown from a small village of farms surrounding the Moon Silver Tavern into a true city over seven hundred years ago, governed by a High Mage elected as the city's supreme leader.

Yefalin had once been a strong contender for the position of High Mage of Silverymoon, but she had explicitly stated that she had no interest in the role, instead throwing her full support behind her best friend, Alustriel—much to the disappointment of her supporters.

"Teacher, your image! Your image! Please, mind your image!" Ryan said to Yefalin helplessly. This teacher was wonderful in every way—kind and caring toward her students, and dedicated in her magical instruction—but she was incredibly unrefined in her daily life, living as she pleased, completely unrestrained.

"What? What's wrong with my image? Am I not beautiful enough for you?" Yefalin raised an eyebrow, speaking to Ryan in a teasing tone.

"No, no, no, Teacher is the most beautiful, your image is perfect. It's just me, your student, who is blind." Ryan thought to himself that a woman's age and appearance were two absolute death zones. Since you've already asked, how could I possibly offer an opinion? Fine, fine, you're the teacher, you're always right.

"Ahahahaha, of course. Don't you know who your teacher is? In all of Silverymoon, only that woman Alustriel can even compare to me." The blue-haired beauty lounging in the bear-fur chair covered her mouth and laughed, looking at the youth before her.

For this studious, humble, and capable student, Yefalin found him more pleasing the more she looked at him.

When they first met six years ago, Yefalin had taken a liking to the cute yet determined child at first sight. Despite looking like a pure, innocent doll, he carried himself like a knight ready to cross mountains and rivers to slay a dragon and save a trapped princess, which had struck a chord in Yefalin's heart.

Yefalin did not know that in Ryan's hometown, this kind of behavior was often called "gap moe," and usually resulted in the child being "petted" by strange aunts and uncles.

As Ryan grew, Yefalin was shocked by the talent he displayed; his self-discipline and hard work far exceeded his peers, and it was as if he had been kissed by the Goddess of Magic, showing extraordinary talent in magical model construction and spellcasting.

In the field of magic, the boy seemed to be a natural-born spellcaster. In just six years, he had become an intermediate mage, and one with an incredibly solid foundation and deep reserves at that.

What delighted Yefalin even more was that despite his brilliant talent and the dazzling achievements he had made compared to his peers, he showed no signs of arrogance or conceit, maintaining a sense of awe for magic and personal humility throughout.

In Yefalin's eyes, this character was even more important than his innate talent. The history of Faerûn had never lacked gifted individuals; outstanding magical geniuses appeared one after another, but because they achieved fame at a young age, most were arrogant and reckless, leading to their early deaths due to assassinations, carelessness, or magical accidents.

After observing him for two years, Yefalin, who grew increasingly fond of little Ryan, took him under her wing as her final disciple. She cared for him deeply, checking his progress in magical cultivation from time to time and explaining specific magical nodes to him.

After discovering Ryan's unique talent for analyzing magical models, Yefalin happily offloaded some of the low-level magical model optimization and analysis tasks assigned to her by the Mage Academy to Ryan, under the guise of "not wanting to waste Ryan's talent, so I must train him well."

Although Ryan was moved at first, he eventually discovered the truth. However, since Teacher Yefalin truly cared for him, and because she hadn't completely abandoned her conscience—giving him a share of magic stones as a reward for every task completed—he decided to swallow his pride. He made a fierce note in his journal: "You thieving woman, give me back my touched feelings! I've written this down!"

"Little Ryan, you're already an intermediate mage. You can't keep burying your head in the tower for cultivation. It's time to go out and see the world. When I was your age, I had already traveled to three or four countries," Yefalin said slowly, twirling her long hair with her slender fingers.

Ryan's face was full of helplessness, his lips twitching silently as he complained internally: Lying through your teeth. Last time you said you reached the advanced mage level at eighteen, then met City Lord Alustriel and started a happy adventure of beating up trolls and chromatic dragons and bullying goblins and kobolds. Now you've changed it to running all over the continent at sixteen? Do you really think I'm that easy to fool?

Yefalin glanced at her student's skeptical expression, smiled inscrutably, and continued, "Little Ryan, you haven't been home in two years, right? It just so happens that the Silverymoon government office needs an intermediate mage to coordinate with the Mage Guild in Waterdeep and deliver some materials to their Guild Master. I saw this task was perfect for you and snatched it up immediately. How about that? Isn't your teacher good to you?"

Ryan could only offer a wry smile, knowing that with his teacher's personality, once she decided on something, it would never change. He knew he had no choice but to go back.

Ryan said helplessly, "Teacher, do you think I can refuse?"

"What do you think?" Yefalin rolled her eyes at him.

"Teacher, since I can't refuse, would you mind revealing the specific details of the task? What exactly requires an intermediate mage to transport it personally? Will there be any danger? Do you have any divine artifacts to give me for protection?" Ryan acted obediently while dancing on the edge of getting beaten up.

"Divine artifacts? Several of them? I want some myself. I can't tell you much about the specific task, but I can tell you that things requiring a mage to transport them personally are usually ancient magical items, and they are generally sealed completely with magic-sealing stones, so you don't need to worry about any problems. Just treat it as a normal errand. And no divine artifacts, but do you want some magical items? If not, forget it, I didn't want to give you any anyway."

Yefalin rolled her eyes. This student was good at everything, but he was far too sensitive to danger. He was always talking about wanting to become a "Sword God of Shilipo" before leaving the mountain, and he would add several layers of magical shields before even starting a simple experiment.

You're a mage, yet your goal is to be a Sword God? And what the hell is Shilipo? There's no such place in Faerûn. Being a shut-in in the tower for too long is clearly bad for a child's physical and mental health. You're going on this trip whether you like it or not.

"Yes, yes, yes, I want everything you give me, Teacher!" Ryan nodded repeatedly, grinning like a Shiba Inu that had stolen a bone. He took the item his teacher tossed over and examined it. It was an opulent ring made of sapphire. Ryan whispered the incantation for the Identify spell and tapped it onto the ring.

Ring of Aelinsus, Intelligence +2, Constitution +1, Charisma +1.
Constant Spell Shield: Can withstand a full-force blow from a 3rd-circle spell, once per day.
Constant Lesser Teleportation: Randomly teleports the user to a visible location within 500 meters, once per month.

Ryan's pupils dilated in shock as he looked at the results...

One had to know that magical items were never cheap, and if they had constant spells imbued, the price would multiply several times over. A magical item with such life-saving capabilities would cost no less than five thousand Gold Talons on the magic market.

"You've been clamoring to learn Teleportation, so you can borrow this ring for now. But don't rely on running away all the time. As a mage, you must learn to elegantly blast your opponents into fragments with fireballs!" The blue-haired beauty expressed her classic mantra as a master of evocation, looking at him as if he were a disappointment.

Mm-hmm, alright, alright, I know, Teacher— Ryan thought, acting obediently while smiling inside: You sharp-tongued, soft-hearted person, you went soft after all. Still, thanks, Teacher.

Seeing his favorite student's goofy, Shiba Inu-like expression, Yefalin felt her irritation flare up.

"Alright, alright, I've told you about the mission, so go pack your things. Take these magical scrolls and potions with you as well."

"You got it, Teacher! Don't miss me too much."

"Get lost, you little brat."