Whenever You Oppose the Red Wizards, Things Work Out

Quest: Travel to the Blue Creek Valley herb garden and gather herbs (twenty portions of acorn truffle, twenty portions of mugwort, ten portions of woven moss)

Difficulty: Low

Scale: Village/Town Level

Base Reward: Upgrade one chosen proficient-level skill to master level.

Current Success Rate: 110% (Open the dropdown menu for details)

Marvin currently had only one proficient skill: [Arcana].

This skill covered comprehensive knowledge in areas such as spells, magical items, and planar entities. It was basic theory that every wizard had to learn.

If [Arcana] reached master level, it would not improve his combat power, but it would lay a solid foundation for studying subjects such as [Magical Craftsmanship], [Runology], and [Spell Array Studies] in the future.

The quest reward was decent, but for Marvin, Blue Creek Valley itself held enough appeal.

Blue Creek Valley was roughly nine miles away from Friendly Arm as the crow flew.

However, due to the complicated terrain, reaching Blue Creek Valley required walking sixty-two miles along the winding river valley—about two days' journey.

For Marvin, this was the most suitable place to set up a teleportation anchor.

If the mind flayers really came knocking, he could immediately flee by teleporting to Blue Creek Valley, putting a full two days of travel between himself and the enemies at Friendly Arm.

That greatly improved his safety margin.

Looks like after lying low in this little town for so long, I'll have to head out eventually, Marvin thought.

However, although the quest was very easy and started with a 110% success rate, Marvin still had to make sufficient preparations before setting off.

He said to Miss Wuke, "Miss Zorana, I can accept this quest, but I'll need at least seven days to prepare before departure. I hope you understand."

"Of course. Caution is a fine quality. Then we shall meet again after you complete the quest."

Marvin took the pouch of money meant for buying a storage ring out of the safe.

With a slight curl of her jade-like finger, Zorana pulled the pouch into her hand from afar. Then, in the blink of an eye, she made it vanish without a trace.

It seemed her storage item was a grade above Marvin's storage ring.

Afterward, the young wizardess, whose hairstyle was bizarre yet whose charm remained captivating, left Marvin's room. Only a faint scent of orange perfume lingered in the air.

After Zorana returned to the Eastern Warehouse, Borey asked, "Young Miss, what is your assessment after meeting Marvin?"

"He does indeed have the potential to become an outstanding wizard. But his personality... is difficult to put into words." Zorana shook her head. "Marvin is overly cautious. That may help him avoid many dangers, but it will also make him miss many opportunities.

"Can you imagine it, Uncle Borey? For such a simple quest as gathering herbs, he actually needs seven days to prepare!"

Before Borey, Zorana discarded her polite facade and voiced her true assessment of Marvin.

Borey smiled faintly. "Young Miss, Marvin is indeed excessively cautious, to the point that ordinary people find it hard to understand. But believe me, his strengths are enough to cover this small flaw in his character."

"Uncle Borey, you have served the Infennar Family since the civil war. Of course I trust you." Zorana sighed softly. "It is precisely because I am determined to change the Infennar Family's ways that I am willing to show goodwill toward a low-level wizard like Marvin and do my best to recruit him."

She touched her smooth, bare scalp, a sense of melancholy filling her heart.

Not long ago, Zorana's father had passed away. The already weak and isolated Infennar Family had fractured once again.

The family's tragic aspiration, left behind by their ancestor Nie Rong—to defeat Szass Tam and restore Thay's glory—had lost all possibility of fulfillment.

To save the family from the brink of collapse, Zorana began a thorough reform after inheriting the position of head of the Infennar Family. The first thing she did was remove her tattoos.

Although Red Wizard tattoos could enhance spellcasting ability, they were also a kind of mental shackle.

Higher-ranking Red Wizards could use magical tattoos to locate lower-ranking Red Wizards and monitor their words and actions. When a lower-ranking Red Wizard made a move toward rebellion, a higher-ranking Red Wizard could draw upon the magic stored in the tattoo to kill them.

Yet after the family split caused by her father's death, Zorana realized that no matter how powerful magical tattoos were, they could not bind people's hearts.

Back in the day, Thay's Red Wizards had used magical tattoos to build a society with rigid hierarchies and a brutal environment, yet they still could not stop their nation from sliding step by step into a devastating civil war amid schemes and betrayals.

Borey had witnessed with his own eyes how his nation fell apart, how the family he served fled to the Sword Coast like homeless dogs after their patriarch's death, and how they continued to decline while barely clinging to life.

Only after the change in family leadership caused the family to split again did Borey realize that if he could not bring about a complete transformation in the little life he had left, the surname "Infennar" might truly vanish into the river of history.

Thus, drawing upon his rich life experience, he formulated a guideline for Zorana's reforms.

If Marvin, who had read Romance of the Three Kingdoms, learned of Borey's methods, he would definitely feel a sense of familiarity: Isn't this just copying Imperial Uncle Liu?

The guiding principle Liu Bei's faction followed in opposing Cao Cao could be summed up in seven words: whenever we opposed Cao, things worked out.

Borey's reforms to give the Infennar Family new life could be summarized in eight words: whenever we oppose the Red Wizards, things work out.

Back then, the Red Wizards worshipped strength above all else. In their pursuit of power and wealth, they would stop at nothing, abandoning all morality and violating every law.

Then the reborn Infennar Family could try walking the opposite path.

To win people's hearts, they would not rely on the mental shackles of magical tattoos, but instead employ the proper method of combining shared interests with personal bonds.

The power of magic was certainly alluring, and power and wealth were also indispensable, but the Infennar Family had to have boundaries in its actions. It had to obey the law and universal moral values.

This would constrain the Infennar Family, but it would also protect the Infennar Family.

After all, on the Sword Coast, the forces of order still occupied the mainstream.

Even the Infennar Family's faith had shifted from Asmodeus, Lord of the Nine Hells, to Mystra, Goddess of Magic.

To demonstrate her resolve, Zorana had voluntarily abolished her own magical tattoos and relinquished mental control over the remaining family members.

The facts proved that this decision had been quite correct.

The Infennar Family, which had fallen into dispersal and turmoil due to the former patriarch's death, finally stabilized.

After nearly a century of peaceful living, these Thayan exiles had not only lost their ambition to restore their homeland, but had long grown weary of Red Wizard-style oppressive rule.

Had Zorana still insisted on the Red Wizards' traditional methods of governance, she would likely have faced another rebellion soon enough.

Now, although she, as head of the Infennar Family, had lost her dictatorial power and her strength had declined considerably after abandoning the magical tattoos, at least the family had not fallen apart. Its cohesion had even increased further.

Even without the restraints of magical tattoos, the remaining members of the Infennar Family understood that as outsiders from Thay, the wisest way to survive on the Sword Coast was to rely on the family and stick together for warmth.

Zorana was very satisfied with the current situation.

When her father died, those family members harboring ulterior motives had either been suppressed during the rebellion or quietly fled. Although the Infennar Family had suffered a severe loss of strength, its unity was now unprecedented.

It was still far from being one big loving family, but at least when Zorana returned to the family estate for banquets, she no longer had to worry that someone might poison her at any moment.

Her only regret was that removing magical tattoos required a special secret technique, and for eighteen months, she could not use spells to alter her body's condition.

Otherwise, the secret technique would be disrupted and all previous efforts would go to waste.

That left her with no choice but to wait for her hair to grow naturally.

For Red Wizards, who valued strength above all else, enhancing themselves with magical tattoos in exchange for a slight sacrifice in appearance was entirely worthwhile.

But all humans had a natural love of beauty.

After abandoning the Red Wizards' way of life, Zorana longed to once again possess the beautiful hair she had had as a girl.

She still vividly remembered Marvin's astonished look when they first met today, and she could not help feeling dissatisfied.

As the family's leader, she had to maintain a good image before her future subordinates.

Borey seemed to see through Zorana's thoughts. "Young Miss, you could visit the druid camp in Sharp Tooth Forest and ask around. Many of them are skilled in herbalism. Perhaps they have a way to make hair grow quickly without relying on magic."

"Not for now. I'd rather stay in town and observe Marvin first. After all, he is the first talent the Infennar Family intends to recruit after its reforms.

"Although I do not really approve of his overly cautious personality, we should still give him the attention he deserves." Zorana shook her head.

Three days later.

Zorana's patience had run out.

She truly could not understand it. For such a simple herb-gathering quest, even trained militia who were not professionals could complete it successfully.

Why did Marvin need so much time to prepare?

And over the past three days, he had not done anything serious. He went to the weapon shop every day.

Could it be that, as a wizard, he planned to put on plate armor and hack people with a sword?

"Uncle Borey, I'll leave Marvin's matters to you. Tomorrow, I'm heading to the druid camp," Zorana said.

In any case, the herb-gathering quest was merely meant to establish initial cooperation between the two sides and lay the groundwork for recruiting Marvin later. The Eastern Warehouse did not truly lack those herbs.

"I wish you a safe journey, Young Miss. I will observe Marvin's actions as closely as possible. If his performance is truly unsatisfactory, I will change my opinion as well and advise you to abandon your attempt to recruit him. Cough, cough, cough..."

Although Borey still trusted his judgment and believed that Marvin had the potential to become an outstanding wizard, he truly could not understand Marvin's intentions this time, and his confidence wavered somewhat.