The Price and the Third Ring

The Sorcerer Supreme had always been selfless toward Salomon. Although The Venerable One treated her other apprentices the same way, she did not mind showing Salomon the darkest places in Kamar-Taj.

Like shadows beneath the sun, Kamar-Taj was not a particularly "righteous" organization.

"Now you have seen the price of magic." The Venerable One led Salomon into a courtyard filled with ascetics clad in red monk's robes, their bodies smeared with white ash. They bore abscesses and deformities beyond anything ordinary people could imagine, yet neither the pain nor the itching changed their expressions. They remained composed, muttering prayers under their breath.

"They believe in magic, so they are willing to bear the price magic exacts on Kamar-Taj. More precisely, they bear the price for me... But how will you pay your bill?"

"I think spellcasting materials would be a good idea, Master." Salomon fought down his nausea as he looked at the pustules and wounds. He tried to slow his breathing to avoid inhaling the stench of rotting flesh. "You know that the knowledge granted to me by the Holy Marks is quite unusual, but I believe I can still pay my bill. I will not merely grow strange things on my body."

"During World War II, there was a sorcerer named Monar. He is still alive, and you may meet him someday. For every girl he saved while serving under NaCui, he had to drown a rabbit on his way home." The Venerable One folded her fan and tapped Salomon on the head with it. "The price of using magic is not always physical deformity. It can be something else—emotions, loved ones, interests. No one knows what they will have to pay for their bill. It is not something that can be offset with spellcasting materials."

"I have already paid my price. You, too, will pay yours in the future."

According to The Venerable One, stepping onto this path meant paying the bill for one's life. Without Salomon knowing it, he had already paid something to arrive at Kamar-Taj. Perhaps it had been Jezebel's life, or perhaps something else. Even The Venerable One was not certain.

As for the final ring, the Sorcerer Supreme urged Salomon to obtain it as soon as possible. The Venerable One also provided a map and... a book?

"Many years later, near an old sunken grave, a new grave was dug. The two graves shared a single tombstone. Upon it was carved this inscription: a patch of pitch-black earth, and a red letter A." The young sorcerer read this passage at the end as he flipped through the book.

The book's author was Nathaniel Hawthorne, one of the greatest Romantic novelists of nineteenth-century United States. The familiar "pitch-black" land in The Scarlet Letter referred to Hawthorne's hometown, Salem.

This land was called New England by the Puritans. The passengers of the Arbe landed at Salem, first settling Salem Town before gradually building Boston. From then on, Salem Town welcomed a steady stream of Puritans, including Hawthorne's ancestors.

A case of religious persecution had also erupted here—the famous Salem Witch Trials. The Puritans of that era possessed a fanaticism unimaginable to people today, and the chief judge of those trials had been Nathaniel Hawthorne's ancestor, John Hawthorne.

But nowadays, Salem's local government had instead turned "witches" into a selling point, vigorously promoting tourism. There was even such a thing as the Witch Cemetery. The entire town had a strong occult atmosphere, and on Halloween, all manner of strange witches and devils gathered together.

Salem even had a Witch Museum. The museum was small. Salomon sat in its center as the walls around him lit up one by one, displaying scenes from the Witch Trials.

To ordinary people, the Salem Witch Trials were a somewhat tragic religious joke. But to Salomon, they carried an indescribable scent, like the stench of Exotic Magic... Perhaps there had been some doubts surrounding the Salem Witch Trials. This magic lingered stubbornly upon this land, though it had grown increasingly faint with time.

Perhaps the two young witches who had sparked the trials had not been ordinary people, but the innocent people dragged in afterward were enough to reveal the nauseating fanaticism of those Puritans.

Salomon and Master Wong's clothes did not draw any attention.

As had been mentioned before, the occult atmosphere here was extremely strong. The descendants of those once-fanatical Puritans no longer clung to their faith. Every day, many tourists came here in search of witches, so a few people dressed like sorcerers were perfectly normal and not worth making a fuss over.

"So where is the ring The Venerable One mentioned?" Master Wong looked around, staring desperately at every person's rings as he tried to spot something unusual.

"Oh, it moves too?"

"What moves?"

"The map, of course." Salomon pointed at the unfolded map in his hands. A small red dot marked the ring's location. "We are going to say hello to the descendants of those Puritans."

"You mean those stubborn lunatics?" Master Wong clenched his fists. "Remember The Venerable One's teachings. We cannot display magic before ordinary people... So fists are more useful."

"Wong, you cannot even cast a Ring of the Ragador. If The Venerable One had not created so many spells that could use one's own magic power, you would not even qualify as a spellcaster." Salomon raised his head, trying to match the location on the map with the buildings around them. "Besides, they have guns. Do not forget, this is the United States."

The Ring of the Ragador Salomon mentioned was one of Kamar-Taj's commonly used spells. Outwardly, it manifested as a magical shield in each hand, one orange-yellow and one red.

The difference lay in magical power output. There was not much difference in spell structure, but it was also the first structured spell Kamar-Taj sorcerers learned after acquiring magical power.

"Okay, okay, then what do we do now?" Impatience filled Master Wong's plump face, and the fat on his cheeks quivered from time to time.

"Use magic, my dear Wong." The young sorcerer said, "Wait for our target to appear. Did you bring money?"

The reason the Sorcerer Supreme had Wang accompany Salomon was not merely because Master Wong had yet to form a contract with Vishanti. It was also because Wang was one of Kamar-Taj's rare apprentices who was not so rigid.

When other sorcerers encountered rogue spellcasters, they often shouted about killing them, yet their strength failed to match their bravado. Years of protection had bred much arrogance in them, making it difficult for them to think highly of ordinary people. In truth, nearly all troublesome targets were handled personally by the Sorcerer Supreme, leaving only low-level grunts for Kamar-Taj's other sorcerers.

Simply put, the Sorcerer Supreme was a legendary sorcerer. Aside from a small number of Kamar-Taj's backbone, the others might not even have surpassed level ten. Caught off guard, a single bullet could easily end the life of any Kamar-Taj sorcerer other than the Sorcerer Supreme.

The Sorcerer Supreme had also noticed this problem. Over the past century, humanity had developed far more than it had in the previous several thousand years.

If Kamar-Taj could not face the power of ordinary people, it might suffer a major loss in the future. Master Wong was one of the talents the Sorcerer Supreme focused on cultivating. Broadening his horizons was precisely what he and Salomon needed to do.

P.S.: Remember to invest!