I was an apprentice in Ferren

Chapter 192: Outsider

July in Faerûn is known as the month of golden ears of grain.

Although this month is even hotter than the month of the blazing sun, and is also known as the month of fire, it is called the month of golden ears of wheat because the wheat seedlings begin to grow vigorously, for a better omen.

DuPont, sitting in the carriage, looked at the dried-up riverbed and shook his head.

Since his mentor wasn't at the Mage Tower, DuPont didn't rush to study there after greeting him. Instead, he went to his hometown: the town of Huangsha near the Nas Desert.

Although as an excellent mage prodigy, he could completely disregard worldly things like titles, and the manor that only produced a few hundred gold coins a year was even less important, he still decided to go and see what the situation was like there.

Leveraging the reputation he had built up over the past few days, DuPont didn't rush. Instead, he used a secret passage to arrive in Nas City in the next instant.

"So the confessional is a teleportation array that can transport people to many cities in Faerûn?" DuPont arrived at this place where he had taken many classes. "Why make it so secretive? I think the dean has the ability to do that."

“Of course not.” The female priest accepted the 500 gold coins that DuPont gave her. This was the cost of using the teleportation array, since it only cost this much for five people within the territory. “Some guests really do have psychological problems, and of course, some are just here to travel to other places. It’s not convenient for me to tell you the specifics.”

Moonflower insisted on coming along, and DuPont thought about it and didn't refuse, even generously paying for everyone's expenses.

The challenge level for an adult blue dragon is 14. The Moonflower Squad members are all level 10. With their luxurious magical equipment, hunting a dragon is no problem at all if they are properly prepared, and they won't have to hire anyone else.

"I'm willing to help, but you'll have to treat me well." Pretending not to see the grumpy paladin seeing them off, Moonflower whispered to DuPont, "However, fighting dragons is very dangerous. Blue dragons especially like to harass you in groups. If you can't kill them with one blow, the dragons are very vengeful. Are you really prepared?"

“We already have a preliminary plan.” DuPont took out a manual. “But how exactly to try it out will depend on the environment on site, and those guys might not even come. So let’s just say I’m inviting you to the desert to see the scenery. After all, you can’t see this kind of scenery on Everlasting Island, right?”

The elves exchanged glances and nodded in unison. In the blink of an eye, they arrived at another church. According to Dorothy, DuPont had given the local church 10 platinum coins as an offering. Meanwhile, Cui Xing reached out to feel the dry air and the intense heat that seemed to be baking her under the sun. She sighed inwardly at Moonflower's reckless behavior.

Although the Desert Academy in the Northeast also has a Grand Mage in charge, the environment and natural conditions there are not as good as those in the Northwest. Moreover, even if the Drow are hurt and dare not retaliate, fighting against dragons is no easy task.

This is truly a case of beauty ruining a country! Your Highness, you must be very careful!

She took out a cloak and headscarf to cover her face: "What's so interesting about the desert? I said the Morning Star family is famous for producing excellent druids, why don't they go and turn that place into a jungle?"

"You don't understand. While jungles are good, the desert environment is also part of nature, and desert creatures are unique species that can't be easily changed." During his recovery, DuPont had some free time, so besides studying swordsmanship, he filled in these miscellaneous bits of knowledge:

"This place is a natural desert, unlike some ecosystems that have been destroyed by the abuse of magic. Only extremely progressive druids would try to change the ecology here, but as long as a traditional druid like Morning Star is discovered, he will intervene. Basically, no one would be so idle as to cause trouble."

"Is that so?" The sun elf thought for a moment and realized that he hadn't really seen any druids here. "Then let's leave it like this?"

"Anyway, the population is not large, and the desert environment is difficult to transform. Even turning mud into stone cannot transform an environment without a foundation. If we really want to do it, we would probably have to replace the soil. Such a large area is probably only something that a god could do. Both the Church of the Father of Oak Trees and the Church of the Mother Earth oppose this change. After all, even if it is indeed the era dominated by humans now, other creatures are also living beings of the planet Toril."

“But even living beings have their hierarchy.” The Sun Elf frowned. “I remember there are quite a few lizardmen and kobold subspecies living in the desert. What use are these creatures besides wasting resources? Wouldn’t it be better for them to improve the environment, or even just be a comfortable residence in the back mountains?”

"Even without the Blue Dragon as an obstacle, it would be very difficult to march into the desert and wipe out these desert races. After all, it's one thing for the kobolds to be weak, but the lizardmen or salamanders have professionals among them. If we want to flatten such a place, the military expenditure would probably have to be calculated by the council."

"Without the help of druids, restoring these tens of thousands of square miles of land would be an astronomical task, and even if it were restored, it would be of little use and have no development value. After all, not everyone is like your elven gods who directly bestow land upon us."

When this was mentioned, the female elves proudly puffed out their chests. However, due to the elves' overly slender figures, DuPont observed them closely and realized that they were nothing compared to the female priests' ample bosoms.

Even the paladins' bra size, which is roughly a B cup, is a size larger than the elves'. These little sprouts are probably only a little bigger than fried eggs.

I wonder if these elves are so slender because they didn't get enough milk and were malnourished when they were children?
Lost in thought, DuPont switched to Common Tongue and looked at a kind-looking local man next to him: "Hey uncle, where's a carriage shop around here? A fast horse? Oh, okay, thanks. What? You need to ask about the toll? One silver coin?? I'm just asking for directions, why don't you just rob me?!"

“Others are watching us.” Yuehua frowned. A maidservant beside her took out a silver coin and gave it to the stubborn guy who kept asking for money. It was better to avoid trouble when you first arrived in this place.

After the man left, Moonflower looked at DuPont and said in Elvish, "Isn't it normal to give tips? Why waste time with them? Let's go."

“There’s never been such a saying before.” DuPont frowned and thought for a moment, but he didn’t have much of an impression of Nas City.

His hometown, Huangsha Town, is somewhat like Maijiu Town. It is located in a somewhat remote area on the front line, so not many people come here for security reasons. After all, his father was the lord of the town, and he didn't lack anything in his childhood. He didn't have any longing for big cities and didn't really know much about this place.

Fortunately, renting a car wasn't too troublesome. Although many drivers were reluctant to travel at noon, they still eagerly signed up for the price of one gold coin. They chose a horse-drawn carriage in decent condition, but then discovered that there were also several very unique camel carriages.

Seeing this, Chenxing became curious and looked at the somewhat overweight convoy owner: "Are these vehicles going to the desert?"

“Yes, miss.” The shopkeeper smiled kindly. “Although everyone says that our Nas City is barren and desolate, the hides of Sand Roller Beasts and Giant Striped Lizards are excellent enchanting materials, and Thunderbird eggs are rarer and more expensive than Griffin eggs. Even if you don’t have the ability to hunt these monsters, Desert Troll hides and Desert Hound pups can easily sell for hundreds of gold. Our desert can be said to be full of gold.”

"Compared to horses, which can barely move once they reach the desert, camels are more heat-resistant, require less frequent resupply, and can even find their own food and avoid sandstorms. They are known as 'mobile oases' in the desert. This camel wagon with two camels can be rented for a day for just 1 gold coin, but the minimum deposit is 20 gold coins and the rental period is 10 days. Are any of you interested, bosses?"

"Let's talk about it later, we still have some things to do." DuPont rejected the idea outright. Although he had hardly ever been to the desert, in his memory it was a wasteland. Every desert child was taught from a young age not to play in that yellow sand. It was a bloody place where no one cared and no one would bother to care if you died there. It was nothing like the wonderful place the boss described.

Having agreed with the coachman to cast a levitation spell on the carriage, the sudden lightness of the load caused the two old horses pulling it to neigh joyfully. Watching the group depart, the portly boss stroked his chin thoughtfully. His waiter whispered, "Boss, such a beautiful elf, and they're even willing to cast a spell on the carriage—they're probably a rare find!"

"A fully armed fat sheep from the church? Aren't they afraid of breaking their own teeth?" The boss shook his head: "We can't take this job. Just let the jackals know. Whether they do it or not is none of our business. If they succeed, we'll take 10%."

Inside the carriage, several elves and curious children gazed at the scenery outside.

Leaving aside Yongju Island, this place is far more desolate than even the Northwest. Most of the trees here have only short leaves; cacti and sea buckthorn of all sizes are more common. Occasionally, clumps of grass resembling withered branches are blown about across the plains. The bare mountains occasionally reflect different colors of light in the sunlight, appearing particularly rugged without the contrast of trees. "The colors of these mountains... there must be mineral veins, right?" Yuehua asked softly. "Isn't the Northeast supposed to be barren? Why don't they mine these to make money?"

“It’s not a rich mine. The environment is too harsh, making mining costs too high. It’s more cost-effective to just buy it directly through foreign trade.” DuPont said, picking up a book. It was a survey report on the Northeast region from his church, given to him by a female pastor. “Furthermore, according to the druid’s warning, it will exacerbate the ecological deterioration here. Who knows what kind of mess it might attract.”

"A jumble of random things?" Cui Xing asked curiously. "I don't see many birds here. What could possibly be in such a desolate place?"

"Just like the boss said, there are indeed many very valuable monsters here, which leads to many adventurers dying here every year. As a result, although the undead creatures there at night are not everywhere, they are of relatively high quality, mostly monsters with a challenge level of 5 or higher. Some low-level adventure teams risk being wiped out if they encounter them without prior preparation."

Upon hearing this, the elves all nodded in agreement, even Moonflower, who was a priest, agreed with it.

Although most priests have the ability to control undead creatures, these creatures usually possess a significant amount of dark energy or carry malignant diseases. If not dealt with promptly, races like elves, whose constitutions are not particularly outstanding, can easily fall seriously ill. In the unlikely event of encountering special cases where even curative diseases cannot cure them, those cases will surely be written into books.

As the group chatted, Jona, who had been silently keeping watch, whispered, "Your Highness, there are several horses following us."

“We rented a carriage near the church. Surely these petty thieves wouldn’t dare rob us?” Moonflower looked at DuPont: “Do you know what happened?”

“I haven’t been back for several years. I was less than 12 years old when I left here. To be honest, it’s pointless to ask me about the social problems here.” DuPont frowned as he spoke. “However, our strength should be considered quite good here. Perhaps the local church received a message and came to escort you secretly? After all, you just encountered robbers not long ago, and the locals certainly don’t want you to get into trouble on their turf.”

"That would be best if that were the case." Moonflower wasn't worried at all; she was just looking for an excuse to talk to DuPont. After all, relationships require communication. "Wait, DuPont, did Pastor Dorothy contact them for us beforehand?"

“Well, I guess not, since we were in a hurry to leave.” DuPont looked at the moon elf: “What would I need to contact if I went home? But you, coming here, don’t you need to register with the local church and the local government?”

"Isn't this your hometown?" The moon elf sighed. "I thought you, as a local, should have some connections, at least you could discuss it with your family. But I forgot about your age. I've heard that the Northeast is barbaric and violent. These guys aren't thinking we're easy prey, are they?"

"Heh, that's hard to say." DuPont laughed. Ever since he bought the linguistics book, his speech was so fluent that no one could find any problems with his accent.

Not to mention, if they were truly easy targets, wouldn't locals be spared from being ripped off?

DuPont took out a group protection arrow, but did not release it. This old system scroll was 20% more expensive than a regular scroll: "I remember that your priests can also release a detection faction scroll, right? Why don't you release one to test the quality of the coachman? That way, we can prepare in advance?"

Moonflower nodded and released the detection alignment, only to see that the coachman was only illuminated by a somewhat grayish white light. Taking advantage of the other party's inattention, she waved it away: "Neutral alignment...not bad."

"Wait, they've disappeared."

"Disappeared?" The Sun Elf drew his sword. "Did it suddenly disappear, or did it slow down and get left behind?"

"They disappeared suddenly. I saw them drink something before, and I think it might be an invisibility potion."

"Make way." The Sun Elf said, casting a stealth detection spell on himself as he approached the window. He couldn't help but laugh and scold, "DuPont, you're something else! You invited us to your house and we ran into sand bandits. Were you planning to kidnap His Highness and sell him off?"

"What are you talking about? If I really wanted to sell, I would definitely do it in the city. Anyway, once this deal is done, I can just run away. Why bother making a fuss in this godforsaken place like Harua?" he said, flipping through his spellbook.

He hadn't learned the spell to detect invisibility, but he had copied it from a spellbook. He'd have to look at it before casting: "VidereInvisibilia!"

After the release, DuPont didn't feel anything unusual about his vision, but he could indeed see those furtive figures holding light crossbows and riding towards him.

Second-Circle Prophecy Spell: Detect Invisibility
Goal: Yourself
Duration: 10 minutes per level

Effect: You can see any invisible objects or creatures within your field of vision.

DuPont activated the group protection arrows. The old system was convenient because it didn't require focusing. He calmly loaded his dwarven thunder musket, preparing to launch a sneak attack, when Moonflower raised a question: "Shouldn't we remind the driver? After all, this is his carriage."

“It’s unnecessary. He only needs to get us to our destination. Knowing anything else will only distract him.” With that, DuPont suddenly opened the car door and, without any hesitation, fired at the bandit who was already 30 yards away, blasting two bloody holes in the man’s body.

The sudden, deafening roar caused all the warhorses to neigh, and the coachman cried out in panic, "What's happening? What's going on?"

DuPont ignored him, simply touching the ring on his hand and whistling at Moonflower: "This is the Nas Desert, a place that emphasizes survival of the fittest. If you sense something is wrong outside the city, just take action. After all, being arrested by the guards is better than losing the initiative and dying!"

"It seems your hometown is quite exciting." Moonflower chuckled. "Do you need me to cast some protective spells for you?"

“Then there’s no need. After all, I want to test what changes occur under this advanced acceleration technique.” DuPont said, loading two more bullets into the chamber, placing one hand on the edge of the carriage, and using his waist strength, he flashed to the top of the carriage.

"Thank you for your warm welcome." DuPont calmly crouched down on top of another bandit after killing him, reloading his weapon. The bandit next to him was furious when he saw this, held his breath, aimed, and fired a crossbow bolt accurately at the young man on the roof of the vehicle.

Shooting moving targets is no easy task, and shooting moving targets on horseback is even more difficult. But for these bandits who roam the desert, how could they make a living here, or even rob adventurers, without some skill?
To his horror, the crossbow bolt, which should have hit its mark precisely, stopped in front of the man, making only a "ding" sound.

Ladies on top, is this even human?

"This isn't a fat sheep, everyone hurry!" Before the bandit could finish speaking, he felt a sharp pain all over his body and fell heavily onto the sand.

"My fingers are so nimble now, I doubt many women could resist them." DuPont looked at the fleeing bandits and jumped off the carriage to give chase.

This taste of home is just too delicious!
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(End of this chapter)