Chapter 733 Not Coincidental, But Inevitable
“What was the nature of the Grand Benediction you cast on me?”
Roland asked casually.
He didn’t sound suspicious or aggressive; he was simply curious.
The G.o.ddess of Magic coldly asked, “Do you really want to know?”
“I am quite curious.” Roland smiled.
After a long silence, Mystra said, “My wish was that Roland would kill Jabezo smoothly without being hurt.”
Roland subconsciously raised his eyebrows.
Mystra still looked very cold.
However, Roland could tell that she was just pretending.
“Then send me down.” Roland turned around.
Mystra waved her hand, and Roland disappeared from the paradise.
Then, she covered her face with both hands.
Fortunately, there was nothing in the Paradise of Magic, not even the souls of her believers. It didn’t even have angels like the Paradise of Life did.
n.o.body saw how awkward she was.
Roland’s soul returned to his body. Then he smiled.
It was true that Mystra didn’t want to hurt him at all.
However, Jabezo tried to sow discord between them before he died. The man was so stubborn… Was it because of jealousy?
Roland looked at Jabezo on the bed and shook his head.
Then, he found that the magic crystals in the cave seemed to be collapsing.
He left the cave in a hurry, only to find that the sea of magic crystals outside the village was melting too.
The villagers started cheering.
Roland, however, knew that it wasn’t a good thing
The magic power crystals were a high-intensity concentration of magic power. When they collapsed, they would fill a large area with magic power for a long time.
Everything would become harmful when there was too much of it.
Roland blinked to the villagers and shouted, “All of you, get out of here and return in one day. Those who stay will be invaded by magic power and bedridden for more than ten days, if not killed. Hurry and go!”
The villagers all hesitated after hearing what Roland said.
They were afraid that Roland was tricking them.
Roland took off with Cloud Flight and roared, “Retreat! Don’t blame me for treating you roughly if you don’t go!”
At this moment, the sea of magic crystals was glistening. Even a Mage as powerful as Roland could sense the heavy pressure behind him.
He couldn’t wait anymore.
After saying that, Roland threw three regular Inferior Fireb.a.l.l.s to the ground.
They exploded and caused a few tiny pits.
The villagers, shocked by the explosions, remembered the horror Mages were capable
Many of them instantly left with their families. However, some stayed and gazed at Roland with their eyes full of hatred.
In their opinion, this Mage had just lied to them in order to occupy their land and houses.
Roland shook his head helplessly at those people. He then blew up the cave with Prismatic Spray and returned to Delpon with Long-Distance Teleportation.
Those people insisted on staying in the village without listening to his warning. Their fate was none of his business anymore.
He had fulfilled his responsibilities anyway.
The system also showed that he had completed the quest and received abundant EXP.
The reward was so abundant that he went from level 13 straight to level 14. Even half of the current EXP bar had been filled.
After returning to Delpon, Roland didn’t find Andonara or Nia in the manor. The mayor’s wife and daughter were nowhere to be seen either.
They must’ve all gone to Wetland City for shopping. Thanks to the efforts of the Church of Magic, teleportation arrays were built in many cities and made transportation a lot easier.
At this moment, one could travel from the capital of Hollevin to the capital of Fareins with three teleportation jumps as long as one was wealthy enough. It would only take no more than ten minutes.
Before, it would’ve taken an ordinary person more than two months to complete the journey.
Therefore, the Church of Magic was getting a lot of reputation points.
Whether or not a church could be accepted by the people largely depended on how “convenient” or “beneficial” it was.
It was also the reason why many churches did charities and helped their communities.
The Church of Life and the Church of Light both did a good job in that regard.
Therefore, those two churches had the most believers.
At this moment, the Church of Magic seemed to be rising too.
Roland returned to his lab and continued his magic studies. He had a lot of projects at hand, including the studies on the floating city, the magic power bricks, and the magic power crystals.
The magic power bricks and the magic power crystals were both solid forms of magic power, but the former were diamond and the latter were coal.
The former were more advanced, but harder to make.
The latter were easier to make, but had a smaller range of applications. Roland thought that if he got to the bottom of these things, he could probably create a supplier to provide energy for his virtual Divine Spark.
However, he looked at his half-filled EXP bar at level 14, and his eyes glittered.
He was only one small step away from Legendary, so he might as well become a Legend first. Roland looked at his quest menu.
It was empty!
He couldn’t help but heave a sigh.
He had gotten most of his experience from magic studies.
He wasn’t interested in regular quests, and it was hard to trigger epic quests.
Speaking of quest maniacs… Roland thought for a moment and pinged Betta in the system.
Roland: “Do you have any epic quests that I can help with? I’m almost level 15. I need 50% more EXP.
Betta: “Shoot. I’m only 13.”
Schuck: “I’m also 13”.
Li Lin: “Same here.”
Brazil: “Same here.”
Husseret: “Roland, why don’t you come to the G.o.ddess of Love’s Temple in Urganda? You’ll have a lot of opportunities. Considering your strength, the G.o.ddess of Love’s Holy Lady is probably willing to dual cultivate with you. You’re guaranteed to reach level 15 in half a year.”
Roland: “Ha. If I do that, my woman will tear down their Holy Temple within three days. Do you believe me?”
Husseret: “Haha. You’re stuck with her, aren’t you? Why would you be committed to anyone in the game? Just see how carefree our lives are.”
Schuck: “Hehe. The queen is as charming as the ten top girls in the Temple of Love. Also, I heard that he stayed in the royal palace of Fareins for several days. You know how pretty the queen of Fareins is. She’s also a widow.”
Li Lin: “He seems to be in a subtle relations.h.i.+p with the Life G.o.ddess and her angel too. I really don’t understand why you think Roland is stuck, Husseret. I for one feel that we’re so lonely!”
Brazil: “So lonely!”
Husseret: “Stop provoking me! Do you think I don’t want to date a beautiful and caring girl? d.a.m.n it. All girls lose interest in me upon learning that I’m a Rogue.”
Roland: “Why are we talking about this? I’m here looking for a quest, not women.”
Schuck: “I have a quest to conquer the pagans with armies. It’s not epic but legendary. Are you up for it?”
Roland: “Never mind. The believers of the Church of Light are too solemn and unfriendly.”
Betta: “I’ve been too busy administering Wetland City to work on any quests.”
Li Lin: “We rarely work on quests. You know why!”
Roland: “Forget it then. I’ll just post it on the forum.”
Roland opened the in-game browser, entered the forum, found the section of “Quests and Deals,” and clicked it.
When the players needed extra hands for tricky quests, they would post their requirements here.
There were indeed a lot of epic quests, but they were all for low levels, mainly between level five and level eight.
Roland wasn’t interested in them.
His level was too high. He wouldn’t get much EXP even if he completed those quests.
After reading another two pages, Roland was finally drawn to one quest.
Seasoned Mages wanted for a Master-level epic quest.
He opened the thread and carefully read the requirements.
There were only three. Firstly, the Mage had to be at least a Master; secondly, the Mage had to be capable of protecting himself, because the dungeon was so dangerous that everybody else could barely keep themselves safe; thirdly, the Mage had to know enough about magic to crack the traps in the dungeon and counter the enemy’s weird spells.
Many people posted replies.
“You could’ve said that you wanted Roland or O’Neal.”
“They’re not to be hired. One of them is the richest guy in the game, and the other has a lot of money in reality. Also, Mages can get EXP from academic research. It’s slow but very cost-efficient. They can increase their knowledge in magic while they level up. The Mages who grow up by fighting and completing quests know few spells. They’re bloated, fake Mages that can be broken easily like balloons.”
“That’s very true. I’ve played this game for five years, but I almost never teamed up with Mages. Those nerds are all fooled by Roland. They spend all their time in their lab and don’t even want to hit on girls.”
“I don’t think you can complete this epic quest. The quests related magic can hardly be completed without the help of the big shot Mages.”
Roland read some of the replies and then sent a private message to the poster of the thread, asking the guy when he would be available for a chat and expressing his interest in the quest.
A Master-level epic quest would probably provide a lot of EXP.
This was still game time, and most people wouldn’t pay much attention to the forum.
However, to Roland’s surprise, the guy replied back only twenty seconds after he sent the message. Barbion: “Master Roland?”
Roland: “I’m not exactly a master. Are you still hiring Mages for your quest?” Barbion: “Yes, of course we are!”
Roland: “Where are you? I’ll come to you.”
Barbion: “We’re in Wetland City. Just come to the Wind Hermit Guild for us.”
Roland: “Okay, I’ll meet you in half an hour.”
Barbion: “Fantastic. Master, I’ll wait for you outside.”
Roland closed the forum and was about to activate the teleportation array, when a dozen fruit bats flew in.
They crashed into the windows and closed all of them. Then, the bats turned into a mature and charming woman.
She landed before Roland and said, “Master, I heard the calling of the True Ancestor. She’s come to the main plane and is asking all the vampires to go to her.”
Roland frowned.
Personally speaking, he didn’t like the True Ancestor of vampires at all.
However, there was nothing he could do about her when she was supported by the Nether G.o.d.
He was too weak to beat the Nether G.o.d yet.
So, he was more and more eager to become a Legend
“Are you going to leave with her?”
“No.” Christina shook her head. “I just want to meet the True Ancestor. I’ll come back after meeting her. After all, my best friend is here.”
Roland pondered for a moment. “Well, both Anna and Nia went to Wetland City. If you leave too, the manor will be undefended.”
A lot of Scorching Sun Gra.s.ses were growing in the manor, which were important magic materials that couldn’t be bought with gold coins.
The Druids were very interested in them.
He had promised to meet someone in half an hour. If Christina left too, who was going to protect the materials?
Vivian?
She was better at administration than fighting
“I’m not in a hurry to meet the True Ancestor. I can go to her in a day or two. After all, it takes time to gather all the surviving vampires across the world. Also, Anna will be back by tonight.”
Roland thought for a moment and proposed, “Do you want some of my blood?”
Vampires could strengthen themselves by sucking the blood of strong experts, but normally speaking, it was the strong experts who hunted vampires.
“Can I?” Christina subconsciously licked her lips.
She had been eating fruit for three years… Although she was able to subsist on them, her growth had been slow.
Besides, the women in Roland’s house were all unbelievably strong.
Both Andonara and Nia could crush Christina with one hand.
Well… so could Roland.
Thinking that Christina had worked dutifully in Delpon for three years, Roland decided that she deserved a reward.
Immediately, Roland took a sharp dagger from the system Backpack and slit his wrist.
Red blood gushed out, and Christina clinged to Roland’s left hand and drank it.
In fact, the blood from the carotid artery was the vampires’ favorite.
However, she dared not do that. If she did, Anna would probably lay a sword on her neck.
Christina drank for two minutes before she finally let go of Roland’s wrist.
Her previously pale face became redder than ever.
Even her lips were glowing greasily.
“Are you full?” asked Roland.
“Yes!”
Christina smiled gratefully and then flew away from the house as a bunch of bats.
In fact, Christina contained herself well during the drinking… Roland didn’t lose much blood, no more than what a regular blood donation would’ve claimed.
But that was enough.
The magic power in Roland’s body flowed in the middle of the blood as liquid crystals at this moment.
For vampires, Roland’s blood was of the highest quality.
Roland cast Lesser Healing on his left wrist to stop the bleeding. Then he teleported to Wetland City.
He found that the atmosphere wasn’t right the moment he arrived.
A huge crowd, almost exclusively players, had been gathered around the teleportation array. Their circle was almost as large as the square itself.
They were obviously waiting excitedly for some drama.