Anchor Teleportation

Feeling his body brimming with vitality, Marvin continued working on the quest panel.

After obtaining four Intelligence Fragments this time, he was already halfway toward his goal of increasing his class's primary attribute.

His Intelligence was now 15.

If his Intelligence reached 16, the upper limit of his spellcasting ability would rise enough for him to master sixth-circle spells.

That meant he would be qualified to join the ranks of high-level mages and build a wizard tower of his own.

Only with a wizard tower could a mage be considered complete.

But that was still far off. Marvin had to focus on the present.

The final quest reward was a spell-like ability: Anchor Teleportation.

Marvin could use this ability to designate a set of coordinates as an anchor. As long as he was within ten miles, he could teleport there instantly, anytime and anywhere.

However, the anchor had to be somewhere he had personally visited, and he needed a vivid, profound memory of the place.

Only then would no errors occur during teleportation.

This spell-like ability was very similar to the fourth-circle conjuration spell [Dimension Door].

The only difference was that [Dimension Door] had a range of just five hundred feet, while [Anchor Teleportation] covered ten miles.

[Dimension Door] performed instantaneous movement centered on the caster.

[Anchor Teleportation], meanwhile, was centered on the anchor and pulled its user over.

The effects seemed identical, but their principles were vastly different.

As a result, many measures that blocked spatial spells had no effect on [Anchor Teleportation].

Marvin was extremely satisfied with this once-a-day spell-like ability that did not occupy a spell slot.

With this lifesaving trump card, he could lie low with much greater peace of mind.

For this quest, Marvin had spent nearly ten days preparing and had mobilized the Flaming Fist's strength, raising the success rate to a new height. In the end, the system's reward had not disappointed him.

However, aside from the quest reward, he had received little compensation for helping the gnome innkeeper clear out the cranium rat swarm.

Since most adventurers had gone to Cloakwood Forest to wipe out the goblin tribes, business at the Friendly Arm Inn had been poor lately.

To clear out all the mess underground, the gnome innkeeper had spent quite a bit of money purchasing supplies.

He barely had any money left.

Marvin felt that rather than shamelessly asking for payment, it was better not to mention money at all and let the gnome innkeeper owe him a favor.

The fellow could be considered a "second-generation mage," and his family's connections should not be underestimated.

There was also Lianna Portyr's goodwill.

These personal connections were invisible wealth, and they would surely come in handy someday.

Besides, killing the cranium rat swarm had earned Marvin 107 experience points, so it was not as though he had gained nothing.

The cranium rat swarm's challenge rating was far higher than that of the gelatinous creature he had killed before. But in this battle, the main force had been the Flaming Fist led by Lianna, so Marvin's share of experience had naturally been diluted considerably.

There was no helping that. Since he sought stability and safety, he had to accept reduced returns.

Still, Marvin was not worried about his leveling speed.

The experience accumulated from copying scrolls these past days, combined with today's gains from killing cranium rats, had brought his experience to 612/900.

Thinking of the original owner, who had been stuck on the first layer of the Weave for years without any progress...

Now, with the panel's assistance, Marvin would reach level 3 in less than half a month. He had already completed three-quarters of the path toward becoming a second-circle mage.

Wouldn't it be nice to lie low, slowly copy scrolls, and practice spells?

"Mr. Rodhart, come up and take a look!"

On the raised platform, Lianna kept waving, interrupting Marvin's thoughts.

This platform was where they had fought the cranium rats earlier. After the Flaming Fist had cut through them like vegetables, the steps were smeared with foul-smelling rat blood, with severed limbs and chunks of flesh scattered everywhere.

There was also a strange garlic-like smell.

That odor was one of the distinctive traits of mind flayers.

So the mastermind really was a mind flayer. Thinking this, Marvin casually opened the quest panel for a look and discovered that the success rate for rescuing the lady knight had now risen to 25%.

Besides the numerical change brought by his improved strength, Marvin noticed several new lines under [Relevant Intelligence] in the success-rate details:

You have keenly noticed that the small disturbance beneath the Friendly Arm Inn is related to mind flayers. Once these terrifying aberrations appear, they often signify a vast and evil plan.

Mind flayers would not make such a fuss over a small inn without deeper intentions. Investigating what they seek at the Friendly Arm Inn and how it relates to the capture of the female knight will allow you to make targeted preparations and increase the quest's success rate. (Success rate +10%)

Mind flayers can be left to the Harpers' Alliance's experts. I'll keep lying low for now. As long as the success rate is below 300%, I absolutely cannot act.

With that thought, Marvin stepped onto the sticky stairs and climbed to the top.

Lianna pointed at a stone platform bearing the marks of time, its surface covered in mottled moss. "This should be what the cranium rat swarm had no choice but to protect after we forced them into a corner. I suspect the mind flayers wanted to take it."

After examining it, Marvin found several buttons and lever-like mechanisms on the stone platform, along with inscriptions in some kind of writing.

Though it was already more than a hundred years old and its magic had long since dissipated, Marvin could still sense the evil and killing intent contained within those unfamiliar words.

Lianna ordered several Flaming Fist soldiers to clear away all the moss from the platform. They discovered that all four sides were carved with a human skull encircled counterclockwise by blood droplets.

"Helm preserve us! This is the symbol of Bhaal, God of Murder!"

"Judging from the Friendly Arm Inn's history, the most logical conclusion is that this underground complex was a secret base for Bhaal's followers." Marvin was not particularly surprised.

However, even though the stone platform had lost its original function, he still resolved to stay far away from it.

"Colonel Lianna, I suggest we seal this place immediately and report the situation. Let the Flaming Fist send someone to study it. Or the Harpers' Alliance."

Lianna gave Marvin a rather strange look. "I thought that whenever mages saw an unknown magical device like this, they would risk everything to figure it out."

"Perhaps I'm different from other mages. To me, the desire to survive is far more important than the desire for knowledge."

After some discussion, Lianna decided to leave half the Flaming Fist behind to protect the site and continue exploring the entire underground area.

After that, they would also need to completely seal the passage the duergar had dug here from the Underdark. Only then could the whole incident be considered concluded.

After returning to the surface, Lianna gathered Marvin and the gnome innkeeper to discuss their response.

What had happened beneath the Friendly Arm Inn likely involved a mind flayer conspiracy and had to be treated with caution.

During the days Marvin had spent copying scrolls while preparing to eliminate the cranium rat swarm, the entire town had also begun to change quietly.

The Coast Way north of Friendly Arm, leading toward Baldur's Gate, had been cut off, and the town's supply of goods was gradually beginning to suffer.

In addition, some of the adventurers who had gone to Cloakwood Forest hoping to play the hero and save the beauty had returned to town after failing.

The wild sorcerer Marvin had encountered before was one of them.

After suffering varying degrees of losses and casualties, a pessimistic mood began spreading among those adventurers.

Many had lost heart and were preparing to leave Baldur's Gate.

Other adventurers began questioning the quest itself, believing that Duchess Belin had concealed critical information and was the chief cause of their failures.

An increasingly thick unease began to hang in the town's air.