New Mission

After leveling up, Marvin began collecting the rewards for his next quest.

The emblems of the eight wizard schools—Evocation, Abjuration, Transmutation, Conjuration, Enchantment, Divination, Necromancy, and Illusion—appeared before him.

Generally speaking, once a wizard reached level 2, they would choose one of those eight schools, advance into a specialist wizard, and gain the corresponding benefits.

Some wizards instead chose to develop all eight schools evenly, investing their energy into other fields and advancing into distinctive subclasses such as war mages, bladesingers, Scribes Guild wizards...

In fact, the level 2 class feature of the eight schools was the same: the time and money required to copy spells from the corresponding school were halved.

Though it could not directly enhance combat power, when paired with a Scribes Guild wizard's class specialty, it created excellent synergy and maximized profits.

If one asked which school had the most universally useful spells, it would undoubtedly be Transmutation.

If one asked which school's spell scrolls were in greatest demand, it would undoubtedly be Abjuration.

Whether low-level spells like [Mage Armor], [Absorb Elements], [Alarm], and [Arcane Lock].

Or mid-level spells like [Dispel Magic], [Mordenkainen's Private Sanctum], [Nondetection], and [Banishment]...

Even if a wizard did not prepare these spells in their spellbook, they would still keep several scrolls in their bag for emergencies.

There was great potential in making money by copying Abjuration spell scrolls.

Thinking this, Marvin chose the Abjuration school emblem without hesitation.

"You have obtained [Arcane Legacy: Abjuration Scholar]."

"Very good." Marvin nodded in satisfaction as he looked at the system prompt.

With the bonuses from [Abjuration Scholar] and [Mage's Quill], the time and money he spent copying Abjuration spell scrolls would be only one-quarter of the original amount.

After collecting all the quest rewards, Marvin discovered that another message had appeared on the quest panel:

"Quest: Exterminate the Shattered Tooth Tribe and rescue the female knight Ailei. Success rate changed to 5%."

"Uh, leveling up once only raised the success rate by 5%?"

A corgi could not beat a tiger. What difference would it make if it leveled up into a German shepherd? The odds of victory had indeed improved, but it was meaningless.

Although the quest reward of 2 Intelligence was truly tempting, Marvin's resolve to lie low in town and develop steadily remained unshaken.

By then, the gnome innkeeper had gathered all the loot dropped by the Gelatinous Cube.

Beaming, he waved Marvin over. "My friend, come here!"

Before Marvin could even reach him, the gnome innkeeper began rattling off their gains like a machine gun:

"I never expected that, aside from that pile of disgusting bones, the Gelatinous Cube's belly contained so many treasures! Who knew how many unlucky adventurers it had eaten before we burned it to death.

"I made a rough estimate. There are 302 gold, 230 silver, and 68 copper in total. But these coins came from all sorts of places.

"Gold pieces alone include Waterdeep Suns, Neverwinter Golden Dragons, Amn Roldons, and several other kinds. There are even Baenre gold coins minted in Menzoberranzan...

"Besides the coins, there is one diamond, one fire opal, and two rubies.

"These gems are average quality and not very large. They should be worth two or three hundred gold pieces.

"As for equipment, there is a gold necklace, a two-handed sword without a grip, five metal spearheads, two breastplate pieces, and a dagger.

"The dagger and gold necklace are magical equipment."

Marvin walked over to the gnome innkeeper. Seeing the glittering pile of loot on the ground, his mood immediately improved.

After some discussion, the two decided to divide the loot according to the standard adventurer's rules.

Although the gnome innkeeper was merely a commoner, he had indeed participated in the battle against the Gelatinous Cube and had provided the crucial oil and strong liquor, so he was naturally entitled to a share of the loot.

Of course, Marvin, who had played the leading role, would take the larger share.

In the end, the gnome innkeeper took one diamond and one fire opal, worth roughly 120 gold pieces in total.

All the cash and the two rubies went to Marvin.

Once the remaining equipment was sold, they would split the proceeds eighty-twenty.

As for the two magical items, the gold necklace naturally went to Marvin as well.

The dagger belonged to Bob, the level 3 rogue who had previously come to investigate the cellar.

According to the customary rules among adventurers, part of the proceeds from selling the dagger would be given to Kelemvor's temple to cover funeral expenses.

The remaining money would go to the deceased's family.

Though immoral, greedy, and cunning people were everywhere among adventurers, almost everyone publicly followed this rule.

As a high-risk profession that faced death at any moment, every adventurer hoped their affairs would be properly handled after death, rather than having their corpse stripped clean in an instant like a beast that had fallen dead in the wilderness.

"The fire opal will be offered to Garl Glittergold. Once the rest of the loot is sold, not only can I make up for the inn's losses, I can even turn a small profit."

The more the gnome innkeeper thought about it, the happier he became. He extended a hand to Marvin. "A pleasure working with you, Mr. Marvin. Without your wisdom, I can hardly imagine how I would have dealt with that enormous Gelatinous Cube."

"A pleasure working with you too." Marvin extended his hand as well.

The gnome innkeeper had made a small profit, while he had made a huge one.

By his preliminary estimate, even excluding the magical necklace, he would gain loot worth over 500 gold pieces.

Together with the gnome innkeeper's quest payment, it would be enough to let him live comfortably without worrying about food or clothing for quite some time.

But for a wizard, this amount of wealth was nothing worth mentioning.

In Faerûn, the most scarce resource was safety.

Whether one was a farmer tilling fields in the countryside, a noble indulging in luxury in Baldur's Gate's Upper City, or an archmage seated atop a high tower, anyone could be swept into danger at any time.

Goblins could kill you. Cultists could kill you. Even the slightest collateral damage caused by the gods' games could easily kill you.

To obtain safety, one naturally needed powerful weapons and equipment, as well as all kinds of magical curios, scrolls, and potions.

With such powerful demand, magical items occupied an entirely different price tier from everyday goods.

Five hundred gold pieces were only enough to buy three third-circle spell scrolls.

Just as the two were about to gather up the loot, a chilling wind suddenly swept through the cellar, dispersing their excitement.

"Is there another exit from the cellar leading to the surface?" Marvin frowned slightly.

"As far as I know, the only passage is the stairs we came down. But since such a huge Gelatinous Cube could appear here, I can't be sure." The gnome innkeeper shrugged.

"Not even Garl Glittergold knows how many secret tunnels those damned followers of Bhaal dug underground back then. My father ran the Friendly Arm Inn for over a hundred years, yet he still couldn't draw a complete structural map of the building."

Gathering his courage, the gnome innkeeper held up his torch and walked toward the source of the cold wind.

Marvin naturally stood behind the gnome innkeeper.

Though given a gnome's size, he would not make much of a shield if danger truly came.

When they reached the end of the passage, they discovered that a large hole had been chiseled through the solid wall of dressed stone. Several pickaxes had been casually tossed onto the ground.

"Someone sabotaged it? That Gelatinous Cube was deliberately released into the cellar?" The gnome innkeeper felt a chill run down his spine and grabbed Marvin's trouser leg.

"My all-powerful wizard friend, you must help me get to the bottom of this!"

Marvin glanced at the pitch-black opening, as though he were looking into the maw of a beast waiting to devour someone.

The quest panel refreshed.

Quest: Explore the unknown underground area beneath the Friendly Arm Inn and eliminate potential enemies

Difficulty: Medium

Scale: Community-level

Base Reward: Choose one cantrip enhancement

Current Success Rate: 50%

Although the quest reward seemed unremarkable, Marvin knew that cantrips—zero-circle spells that required no spell slots and could be cast at any time—were actually highly practical.

Even powerful wizards who had touched the ninth layer of the Weave often used cantrips to solve problems.

Enhancing a cantrip was a lifelong benefit.

But the 50% success rate made Marvin realize that this quest was not so simple either.

Closing the panel, he said without changing expression, "Boss, this matter has already gone beyond my abilities. To be safe, we should report it as soon as possible."

Before he knew the details and had made sufficient preparations, they expected him to enter an unknown area to investigate?

Not a chance!