Spellcasting Gods

Although he had prepared himself mentally before coming, he still couldn't help but feel a powerful aura, as if the person sitting in front of him was not a thirteen-year-old boy, but a clever and cunning dangerous individual.

Zhang Cheng smiled and shook his head: "Why must it be cured? What's lost is lost. It will remind me of the mistakes I made and constantly remind me not to repeat them. To receive such a huge reward for just one eye, isn't that something to be happy about?"

“You are very intelligent and precocious, even more outstanding than I imagined. However, before we truly begin our conversation today, I would like to conduct a magic test to prove our blood relationship.” Mandane made his first request with a complicated expression.

Because he understands that if he cannot confirm that the other person is truly being selfish, then all subsequent conversations are invalid.

“Okay!” Zhang Cheng nodded in agreement immediately.

Without a doubt, he knew who the monk sitting in front of him was, and based on the boy's remaining memories, he deduced that the monk was likely the boy's biological father.

Mandaen, who was used to being selfish, clearly didn't care about other people's feelings. He took out a piece of white crystal, cut his finger with a dagger, dripped a drop of blood onto it, and then pushed it to Zhang Cheng: "Here! You're the first to bleed too!"

Don't mistake this for some ancient blood test for kinship!

Quite the contrary!

This is a complex magical device that can determine whether two people are related by blood. It is often used by nobles to test whether their offspring are their own.

After all, the atmosphere in Faerûn is so open, and the goddess of love, Shuna, is even more shameless, encouraging men and women to unleash their nature, not to be bound by marriage, and to fully enjoy the pleasures of the flesh.

Therefore, it had become a popular trend for aristocratic men to have affairs, keep mistresses, and frequent brothels.

The women, not to be outdone, kept male lovers, had intimate relationships with their bodyguards, and occasionally engaged in passionate love affairs with young, handsome artists and bards...

In short, there's nothing they wouldn't dare to do, only things you can't imagine.

With such a promiscuous private life, confirming whether the offspring are biologically related naturally becomes a difficult problem.

Therefore, just as modern society is becoming more open about sex, leading to the increasing popularity of genetic paternity testing, the continent of Faerûn also has magic to identify blood relatives.

As the saying goes, where there is demand, there is market, and corresponding products and technologies will emerge.

Without any hesitation!

Zhang Cheng cut his finger and dripped a drop of blood onto the crystal surface.

moment!

The crystal emitted a dazzling light!

Then the two drops of blood slowly seeped into the crystal, eventually merging together to form a dark red crystal.

Seeing this, Mandaen breathed a sigh of relief, but at the same time looked embarrassed.

Several minutes passed before he finally spoke: "I believe you have already seen the result. Yes, I am your father, at least by blood."

"So? My dear 'father'?" Zhang Cheng asked with a half-smile.

To express his disdain, he even emphasized the word "father," making the whole sentence sound extremely harsh.

Normally, if Mandaen were to hear such a tone, he would definitely turn around and leave without hesitation.

As a man who was a womanizer in his youth, he had slept with countless women and probably had quite a few illegitimate children, so he never cared about such things.

According to the traditional beliefs of the Forgotten Realms, illegitimate children are not even considered members of the family. Most illegitimate children are either abandoned or raised to adulthood to make their own way in the world. The best they can hope for is to stay at home as servants or stewards, serving their superior brothers and sisters.

The problem is that Zhang Cheng's current performance still surpasses the sum of all the other illegitimate children combined, making him a force to be reckoned with in Neverwinter.

In addition, Mandane is already quite old, and he does need a successor in case of unforeseen circumstances.

So, after forcibly suppressing his inner displeasure, he gently tapped the table with his right index finger and explained in a low voice, "I understand that you harbor resentment, resent that I abandoned you. But you have no idea that it wasn't me who abandoned you, but your mother who eloped with another man behind my back. It was she who abandoned you in the beggar's den back then!"

“Resentment? No, no, no, I don’t mean any resentment. Let’s put these old grievances aside for now and tell me what you want from me and how much you’re willing to pay?”

“I need you and the Beggars’ Nest under your control! In return, you will be my sole heir.”

……

Chapter 0911 Eribes

Why would Mandane want to control the Beggars' Nest?

The answer is simple!

He needs corpses, a great many corpses, to conduct research and experiments on necromancy.

As a typical selfish and evil mage, he has a very grand goal: to transform himself into a lich and gain eternal life.

Although it is no secret in Forgotten Realms that high-level spellcasters can transform into liches, the problem is that Neverwinter is within the sphere of influence of the God of Justice, so it is impossible for them to have this knowledge. Therefore, they can only conduct experiments in secret.

If a secret laboratory could be built within the great cemetery of the Beggar's Nest, the sheer amount of negative energy would be inexhaustible.

Having figured this out, Zhang Cheng immediately reached an agreement with Mandaen: one would be responsible for building the secret laboratory and ensuring its security, while the other would provide inheritance rights, making him a formal member of an aristocratic family and using it as a springboard into high society.

The relationship between the two was less like father and son and more like mutual exploitation. Blood ties were merely the premise of the transaction; the real bond that maintained their relationship was mutual benefit.

Otherwise, with so many mistresses and illegitimate children, why would Mandane choose Benny to become the underground king of the Beggars' Nest?

Of course, neither party will admit to this, and they continue to play their respective roles on the surface.

In just two weeks, Mandane took Zhang Cheng to four banquets, openly introducing him to the high society of Neverwinter. He even got to know Lord Nasir's right-hand woman, the famous paladin, Irebeth de Timmarand.

Unfortunately, the magical plague in Neverwinter had not yet broken out, so this female paladin maintained her radiant and majestic image and did not fall into darkness to reveal the other side of her soul.

Zhang Cheng undoubtedly preferred the other person's appearance when they fell into darkness and were dominated by anger and resentment, rather than their seemingly flawless bright side.

He desperately wanted to know how the God of Justice would react when he saw the paladin he had personally converted wielding his sword and slaughtering his followers.

Enraged?

Ignore it?

Or are you planning to show your magnanimity and give him a chance to redeem himself?

Regardless of which one it is, he is confident that he can make the God of Justice suffer a great loss.

"Good evening, Miss Timaland. You are as beautiful as ever tonight." Zhang Cheng bent down and gently kissed the half-elf paladin's hand.

“Thank you for your compliment, Benny,” Irebeth said with a smile, returning the greeting.

It has to be said that age can sometimes be a perfect cover-up.

If it were any other adult male, she would never allow him to be too intimate with her, but if it were a thirteen-year-old boy, there was no need to worry too much.

In fact, as a paladin who upholds order and goodness, she dislikes such extravagant and decadent social occasions, but in order to ensure the safety of Lord Nasir, she has to attend time and time again, which has led many lecherous men to take her as their target for seduction.

Seeing that Eribes didn't seem to want to talk to him, Zhang Cheng immediately stepped aside and silently observed the visitors today, especially the priests surrounding Lord Sir.

In particular, there was a pastor named Deszel from Heim who gave off an extremely uncomfortable feeling.

Looking at the actors already in place, he couldn't help but sigh, muttering to himself in a voice only he could hear: "I truly hope that when the magical plague descends, you can present the gods with a spectacular performance they'll never forget. And I, too, can obtain the experimental results I desire..."

The words had barely left his mouth!

Mandane hurried over from a short distance away, frowning as he asked, "You seem to be getting a little too close to that half-elf named Eribes lately?"

"What's bothering you, Father?" Zhang Cheng asked with a half-smile.

“She’s a paladin of the God of Justice! She’s not one of us!” Mandane reminded him seriously.

“Heh, I don’t think so. Haven’t you heard the saying that the brighter a person appears, the darker their heart is? I look forward to the day Miss Timaland falls into darkness, at which time she will become my best helper,” Zhang Cheng explained meaningfully.

"Oh? Are you sure!" Mandane turned around and glanced at Irebeth, who was talking to her fiancé.

"Of course! She will belong to me, both in spirit and in body." Zhang Cheng's tone revealed strong confidence.

“Alright! Since you’re so confident, there’s no harm in giving it a try. I have to admit one thing: you’re smarter and bolder than I was when I was younger. At least I’ve never thought of conquering a paladin who serves the god of justice.” Mandane’s lips curled up slightly, and a playful smile appeared on his face.

It goes without saying that he mistakenly took Zhang Cheng's approach to Irebeth as a normal reaction of an adolescent boy's strong desire for a beautiful girl.

Zhang Cheng smiled dismissively and made no attempt to explain.

While the guests were chatting amongst themselves, Manda quickly lowered his voice and asked, "When will the laboratory I asked you to build deep in the Great Necropolis be completed?"

"You should be able to use it within a week at the latest," Zhang Cheng said without hesitation, giving a specific figure.

After all, the Great Cemetery is no longer the place filled with undead monsters and cultists after the outbreak of the magical plague. There are not only gravekeepers, but also guards patrolling regularly, so we can't act recklessly without any scruples. We have to do it secretly.

"Okay! I'll give you some relevant experimental equipment in a couple of days, and you can ship it over there for me."

Mandane was clearly a little dissatisfied with the speed, but he didn't complain.

It's important to understand that a week in Faerûn isn't seven days, but ten, and a month only has three weeks, so the progress of the entire project can hardly be considered efficient.

"Be patient, dear father. As a mage, the greatest enemy is impatience. Magical research has always been a dangerous thing, and the more anxious you are, the more likely you are to make mistakes."

"You know magic too?"

"Ah! Yes! In fact, after this period of study, I am already a mage who has mastered second-circle spells."

As he spoke, Zhang Cheng raised his right hand and snapped his fingers lightly.

Snapped!

moment!

A silver snake crackling with electricity appeared out of thin air, weaving between the five fingers without harming a single hair.

Upon witnessing this scene, Manda's pupils contracted sharply, and he seemed to be frozen in place, unable to recover for a long time...

Chapter 0912 Siege of the Temple

Undoubtedly, Zhang Cheng's sudden display of spellcasting ability greatly frightened Mandaen.

After all, in his memory, this illegitimate child only started to learn magic after he accepted him, which was no more than two weeks at most.

To go from an ordinary person to a mage who has mastered second-circle spells in just two weeks—what an astonishing speed!

Not to mention those apprentices in Neverwinter Academy who are called "geniuses," they are among the most talented in the entire continent of Faerûn.

You should know that learning magic never relies on diligence or hard work, but on innate talent.

Without sufficient talent, no matter how hard you try, you will only ever be a low-level mage, unable to comprehend the extremely complex theoretical knowledge of advanced magic.

The most typical example is Karthus, the last Archmage of Netheril. He cast his first spell when he was two years old, and later learned magic with ease. He became an Archmage at the age of twenty-two, standing at the pinnacle of that era. In the end, he invented an unprecedented twelfth-level spell, almost replacing the first Goddess of Magic.

Therefore, Mandaen had ample reason to believe that his chosen successor was also a magical genius, and began to devote a great deal of energy to his training and instruction.

Zhang Cheng did not disappoint his nominal "father." With the boundless knowledge in his mind, he reached the level of mastering the fourth-circle arcane arts in just two and a half months.

At this point, Mandan, an eighth-level mage, no longer had the ability to teach. With extremely complex emotions—envy, jealousy, and a little bit of relief—he went alone into the laboratory beneath the Great Tomb and began frantically researching ways to transform himself into a lich.

Since he disappeared for several months, the power of the manor gradually and imperceptibly passed into the hands of Zhang Cheng, the sole heir.