Chapter 102: Sorcerer Part-time Wizard
Soren first settled Vivian.
The little girl was full of curiosity, looking around and feeling fascinated by everything in sight. Aladdin was also a restless one; he secretly snatched a couple of unfamiliar fruits, as most wanderers didn’t have very honest hands. Elves are the race that cultivates the most fruits, usually having a continuous supply of melons and fruits throughout the year. Here, fruits are sliced and served on the dining table. Nearly one-third of elves are vegetarians, occasionally adding a bit of meat to their meals, while other elves’ diets are not much different from humans.
Gloria also seemed to be in a good mood, playing with a red fruit, but she didn’t seem to have any intention of taking a bite.
Soren first walked around the village, then took a distant glance at the large tree. The Ancient Tree Guardian did not allow anyone to approach; there was a fence nearby, and getting too close would provoke the elves’ hostility. This was a challenge level 12 supernatural creature, granting over 10,000 killing experience, but the difficulty of defeating it was quite high. The Ancient Tree Guardian had a natural life bonus of 12, increasing by 1 for each annual ring, so this particular Ancient Tree Guardian had at least four to five hundred life points.
Setting it on fire would hardly be effective; it might even transform into an “Angry Burning Ancient Tree.”
That would be something else entirely!
They are life forms similar to the elemental fire, and such life forms can easily mutate (evolve into advanced variants).
The elves sell high-quality bows and arrows, as well as exquisite jewelry and handicrafts, which are very popular among nobles. They need to import food, iron products, and fabrics, as the isolationist self-sufficient lifestyle disappeared hundreds of years ago. Only a portion of elves who adhere to traditional teachings live secluded lives deep in the forest.
This place is not far from Soren’s destination.
The team felt somewhat fatigued after trekking for three days. Today, they would definitely take a break; tomorrow, he planned to discuss his plans with Gloria.
A night soon passed.
The next day, everyone gathered in Soren’s room. After listening to Soren’s words, their eyes brightened noticeably.
“Wait a minute.” Aladdin clapped his hands, showing an excited expression as he lowered his voice, “Are you saying there’s hidden treasure somewhere nearby? But there are monsters guarding it, so we need to help too?”
“Of course!”
“Aladdin loves treasures! Once we find it, I want a share of the loot.”
Gloria also seemed interested in the treasure hunt, gently flipping her hair. Although her expression was hidden behind her veil, her demeanor indicated she was quite intrigued. While there are many treasures in this world, the truly valuable ones are quite well hidden. High-level witches are equally eager for treasures. However, when she heard the location Soren mentioned, she immediately frowned and said, “Is it over there? There’s a dragon rumored to be in that area!”
Aladdin’s expression froze for a moment, but then he showed no sign of worry; instead, he became more excited. “Is it a dragon’s lair? Then the treasure must be even more astonishing! Just like in the stories. Are we going to steal the dragon’s treasure?”
Gloria raised her eyebrows and said softly, “With our strength, approaching a dragon’s lair is just asking for d*ath; that must be an adult dragon.”
Soren shook his head gently and explained, “Of course it’s not a dragon’s lair; that place is way too dangerous. The treasure’s location is still several dozen kilometers away from the dragon’s lair, and that dragon is still asleep, posing no threat to us. Moreover, it’s a metallic dragon, not the more evil five-colored dragon. My target is near a canyon where there are active earth elements, and inside the canyon is an elemental altar. Below it lies the treasure we are looking for, which should contain a lot of valuable items.”
Nearby, there is a metallic dragon, seemingly an adult copper dragon, but it will remain asleep for another year or two, only waking during a tumultuous year; currently, it is in a hibernation phase. The four “Elemental Seals” are a legendary-level quest. The rewards naturally include not just one piece of legendary-level equipment, but also extremely valuable gems and items. A core crystallizes within the earth element, important for crafting clay golems and stone golems, and can easily sell for over five hundred Gind after being excavated.
In simple terms.
Even discounting that very special legendary equipment, the profits from this adventure would exceed 15,000 Gind.
Divided among the three, that would still mean five to six thousand Gind each. That’s more than ten times that of an ordinary adventure!
“Great!” The halfling clapped his hands, quite enthusiastic about making money. “When are we setting out? If we leave in the next couple of days, I need to prepare some little gadgets. According to the old rules, we’re forming an adventurer team now? Since you provided the treasure location, you should be the leader, and you’ll take an extra share of the profit.”
“No problem, right?”
This period of interaction had allowed them to know each other quite a bit, but the halfling was still very concerned about the distribution of loot.
Among adventurers, there is a common old rule that the person who provides the treasure location can take an extra share, and other members must take at least one share, depending on their combat contributions for distribution. However, in most cases, after covering expenses, distribution is balanced. Adventurers sometimes team up temporarily; after all, fixed teams are rare. There are always those who retire or leave, and sometimes the difficulty of tasks results in having too few people to complete them. Soren occasionally sought temporary partners.
Previously, he often dealt with individuals from the evil faction. Although they were generally bad, many kept their word; only a few would stab you in the back. The current halfling was undoubtedly much more trustworthy than them. He had dealt most with the drow, who were cunning, treacherous, and cruel, but Soren had fought alongside them hundreds of times; although they were often self-serving, betrayal was relatively rare.
He even came to think for a while that the drow were easier to deal with than humans!
As long as you understood their way of doing things, you could even earn their respect. Of course, you’d better show enough evil and cunning.
If you appeared kind and easily bullied, they would be more than happy to plot how to quietly eliminate you!
………………
A group of people was discussing when to set out.
At that moment, Vivian, with her small stature, stood up and said firmly, “Brother! I want to go too!”
Shock.
Soren was clearly taken aback and then rejected, “This operation is very dangerous; why would you want to come along? I will ensure you are placed in a very safe location.”
The little girl remained silent, just looking at him with unwavering determination, making him feel inexplicably guilty, as if he had done something wrong.
“Hey?” Aladdin covered his forehead, muttering, “Aren’t you only eight years old? To want to go on an adventure at this age is too…”
Vivian shot him a glare without hesitation, countering, “Aren’t you only a little taller than me? If you can go on an adventure, why can’t I? Besides, I’m much stronger than I used to be!”
The halfling was momentarily speechless; he gestured between the two of them and indeed found that she was only slightly shorter.
Gloria also seemed a bit stunned, then furrowed her brow in thought, slowly saying, “Maybe Vivian can go too; after all, her path should be chosen by herself. We can guide her direction, but the journey must be walked by her own feet. She will face a lot in the future; it wouldn’t hurt to sharpen herself a bit now, plus I can protect her.”
Gloria’s words clearly leaned in favor of Vivian, and the little girl immediately looked at her with gratitude.
Soren frowned and shot a glare at the Northern Witch, continuing with a stern face, “No, it’s too dangerous. You have trouble moving around in the forest; what can I do taking you with me?”
Tears clearly welled up in the little girl’s eyes, as she stubbornly turned her head away, refusing to look at him.
“By the way.” At that moment, Gloria suddenly spoke, “I almost forgot to tell you; Vivian is now a level 3 sorcerer and a level 2 wizard.”
What?!
The expressions of the two people present showed shock.
Soren’s expression was somewhat calmer, as he knew Vivian’s astonishing talent, but the halfling’s expression was quite exaggerated; he pointed at the little girl in front of him, revealing a look of disbelief as he murmured, “She’s a sorcerer? Or a wizard?”
Does that mean she will have an outrageous number of spell slots in the future?
This thought he didn’t voice aloud, for the little girl in front of him had already overturned his previous worldview. Wizards and sorcerers calculate their spell slots separately. Wizards gain spell slots through memory, while sorcerers obtain spell uses through talent. At the same time, sorcerers who are part-time wizards are remarkably rare due to the high talent requirement. However, those who successfully combine the two often have more spell slots than others and can assist sorcerers in mastering the number of spells.
Simply put, after the collapse of the magic network, all spellcasting professionists would convert to mana. Wizards convert based on intelligence and profession level, priests convert based on wisdom and profession level, and sorcerers convert based on charisma and profession level. Therefore, the combination of sorcerer and wizard means intelligence plus charisma and profession level converts to mana, which is much higher than that of a wizard of the same level, but due to the dual profession level reduction, the mastery of advanced spells becomes more difficult.
For example, Vivian currently has 2 first-circle spells and 1 second-circle spell from her sorcerer level, while holding 2 first-circle spell slots from her wizard level.
………………
(PS1: The last few paragraphs took a long time to verify, resulting in a slower pace of writing. The third update is in the evening.)
(PS2: The magic network can be understood as a website; wizards need to manually connect to the network and enter a URL to access, while sorcerers are like automatic dialers, with the homepage being the magic network; each upgrade will automatically add a few bookmarks. However, anyone attempting to access pages with legendary-level spells will encounter a 404 error. [Magic Network Ban]) (To be continued ~^~)
