Spellcasting Gods

Zhang Cheng's lips curled up slightly, a barely perceptible sneer flashing across his face, before he nodded: "Alright, please take a look."

The words had barely left his mouth!

He threw the bag full of golden dragons directly onto the table.

Whoosh!

Because the bag wasn't tied tightly, all fifty-odd gold dragons scattered out, emitting a bright orange-yellow light.

Gudong!

The warden swallowed hard, then quickly rushed over to count the items one by one. After two or three minutes, he finally raised his head and bowed with an almost fawning attitude: "Honorable sir, please allow me to apologize for my rudeness just now. You have already shown enough sincerity. Now please state your request, and I guarantee that if we have it here, we can definitely satisfy you."

Don't underestimate fifty gold dragons.

After the conqueror's death, Aeneas succeeded him. The sons of warriors and the poor people's assembly, armed by the Seven Gods' subordinate orders, rebelled. The cruel Maegor offered a bounty of a golden dragon on the scalp of each son of warriors and a silver deer on the scalp of each member of the poor people's assembly.

Although this happened many years ago, given that Westeros had neither entered the Age of Exploration nor had large open-pit gold and silver mines available for exploitation, and considering that the inflation rate of precious metal currencies was negligible, they still possess considerable purchasing power even today.

Fifty gold dragons would be enough to buy all the prisoners held in the entire dungeon.

Zhang Cheng ignored the other party's flattery, slightly lifted his hood to reveal his true face, and said in a low voice, "I think we've already agreed on the terms. Now, please honor your agreement. Remember, I want real criminals, not some poor people from flea dens to make up the numbers."

"It's you?!" The warden jumped in surprise.

He would never forget the mysterious person who had broken into his bedroom without him noticing a few nights ago.

"Yes, it's me. Is there a problem?" Zhang Cheng stared at the other person with a threatening look.

"No! No!" The warden hurriedly shook his head frantically, then shouted at the guards beside him, "Damn it! What are you standing there for! Go and clear out the bottom cells! Then select fifty serious criminals and send them over one by one."

"Yes!"

Although the guard was a little puzzled by his superior's strong reaction, he still obediently responded.

In the blink of an eye, the deepest room in the dungeon was cleaned up, and a strong young man who had committed murder was brought in.

As soon as he stepped across the threshold, he saw Zhang Cheng waiting there. He quickly turned around and asked the jailer, "Damn it! Who is this guy? Why isn't he in shackles? And why is he holding a sword?"

"Shut up! Put your hands and feet over here!" the jailer urged impatiently.

"What the hell?" the young man muttered as he obediently stretched his hands and feet out of the cage.

Without a word, the jailer unlocked the lock, removed the shackles, and disappeared into the dark tunnel.

Looking at his bewildered opponent, Zhang Cheng smiled slightly, casually tossed over another ordinary iron sword, and loudly commanded, "Pick it up! Pick it up and fight me! If you can beat me, I can give you your freedom again, but if you lose, your only fate will be death."

"Wh...what?!" The young man was clearly taken aback.

"Sorry, I've already explained the rules once, and I don't want to repeat them. I'll begin the attack after three counts. Three...two...one..."

As the last word escaped his lips, Zhang Cheng swung his weapon and thrust it towards the opponent's throat.

His movements were swift and ruthless, clearly aimed at delivering a fatal blow.

"Damn it! You lunatic!" the young man cursed, grabbing his longsword to try and defend himself.

However, he made a mistake, the exact same mistake as Blanco: he focused only on the sharp blade and ignored the insidious and deadly kick.

next second...

"Aaaaaah!!!!!"

The young man screamed and squeezed his legs together, his whole body frozen in place. Before he could recover, a cold glint pierced his eye sockets.

puff!

Bright red blood and brain matter slowly flowed from his eye sockets, then he collapsed to the ground with a thud, taking his last breath.

Zhang Cheng took out the parchment and glanced at it. Sure enough, he saw the number 1/50 in the "Swordsmanship" section of the mission.

Chapter 0100 Dark Guardian

There was no hesitation, no wavering, only an intense desire for power...

After confirming that killing the criminals would complete the mission, Zhang Cheng completely transformed into a messenger of death, mercilessly killing one prisoner after another. In just over an hour, the floor of the lowest cell was covered with dark red blood.

Although most of the corpses had already been dragged away, the pungent, thick smell of blood could not be concealed.

Judging from the fearful expressions on the faces of the guards waiting outside, they probably already categorized Zhang Cheng as a pervert or a lunatic.

After all, a normal person wouldn't spend over fifty gold dragons to idly go to a prison and slaughter prisoners, nor would they remain extremely indifferent after witnessing so many deaths, as if they were killing a herd of livestock rather than living people.

Of course, in some ways, his idea is not wrong at all.

Zhang Cheng subconsciously refused to acknowledge that these worlds truly existed. Although he was unaware of this, it was vividly reflected in his attitude towards people, which was to treat people as less than human.

In his eyes, everything he has experienced so far is just a thrilling game. Everyone else except himself is an NPC whose purpose is to provide him with tasks or experience points for leveling up.

It was this bizarre psychological state that allowed him to go on a killing spree without any mental burden, because he never considered the dead as his own kind.

"Hu-hu-hu-"

With heavy breathing, Zhang Cheng finally managed to kill the last prisoner with his sword. He leaned against the wall to recover his strength, while looking down at the task on the sheepskin.

The message read: Mission - Swordsmanship: Kill 50/50 opponents, gain basic mercenary swordsmanship skills, rating: "Opportunistic", randomly select a melee class template.

moment!

A disc-shaped pattern covered with various markings suddenly appeared on the paper and began to spin at an extremely fast speed.

Without even asking, it's obvious that each mark represents a melee class in a certain world, but he himself isn't quite sure what it specifically represents.

Just over ten seconds later, the disc slowly came to a stop, and the black pointer landed on a shield pattern with a long sword stuck in it.

Before Zhang Cheng could figure out what kind of profession this was, a powerful and evil force surged through the parchment, transforming every inch of the man's muscles and bones.

In the blink of an eye, his originally slightly thin body grew into a strong muscle, and at the same time, his mind gained a lot of fighting skills, as well as knowledge of how to use various weapons and armor.

Once all this was done, a line of small print quickly appeared on the parchment: "Random selection complete. You have obtained the melee class template - Dark Guardian."

"Dark Guardian? Isn't that an advanced class in the game Neverwinter Nights?" Zhang Cheng frowned subconsciously and muttered to himself.

Simply put, the Dark Guardian is the opposite of the Paladin, the basic class in the Dungeons & Dragons rules.

If the latter are the embodiment of order, goodness, and virtue, then the former are the defenders of evil and tyranny. They not only possess powerful melee combat skills, but can also unleash many evil spell-like abilities, such as Good Slash, Detect Goodness, Summon Infernal Servants, Awaken the Undead, Dark Blessing, Enchanted Weapons, Despair Aura, and so on.

However, as a novice Dark Guardian, he is not yet able to use any of the above-mentioned magical abilities; he has only learned how to poison weapons.

However, compared to before obtaining the professional template, his melee combat ability has undoubtedly been greatly improved. At least now, when facing a seasoned mercenary like Blanco, he no longer needs to resort to those tricks.

Just as he wiped the blood off his longsword and prepared to leave, a new line of small print suddenly appeared on the parchment: "Mission - Tournament. Use everything at your disposal to win the championship in the upcoming tournament. Success will upgrade your Dark Guardian class to level two and reward you with a set of exclusive armor and weapons. Failure will permanently disable further upgrades for the Dark Guardian class."

"Hmph! Just what I wanted." Zhang Cheng sneered, took out a golden dragon coin and tossed it to the jailer who had been carrying his corpse for half a day, then left the gloomy and terrifying dungeon without looking back...

Meanwhile, Petyr Baelish, nicknamed "Littlefinger," sat in the room, fiddling with a signet ring that symbolized his noble status. Without looking up, he asked his subordinate standing before him, "Are you sure no one knows about this?"

“Yes, sir. This fellow named Mason was already burdened with a large debt due to financial hardship. Even if someone notices something, they would never suspect us. Besides, since his only relative passed away three years ago, theoretically no one in King's Landing should know him,” the man with a small mustache replied in a low voice.

Baelish nodded in satisfaction: "Very good, you did a good job. Now go and get some rest. I will pay you your reward later."

The man with a small mustache bowed deeply: "Thank you for your generosity. But before you leave, please allow me to ask, are you planning to sell this hard-won noble status?"

“No, strictly speaking, I didn’t sell it; I made an investment,” Baelish explained with a smile.

"Investment? You mean..."

"Shh! Don't tell anyone, I'm planning to give Varys a big surprise."

As he said this, Littlefinger's eyes were full of laughter, as if he was expecting something.

As an ambitious schemer and conspirator, he had always regarded the dead eunuch who secretly gathered all kinds of intelligence as a potential rival and enemy. Now that he suddenly discovered that someone could pose a great threat to him, how could he not make good use of him?

"Hehe, I understand. Goodbye."

The man with the mustache smiled knowingly, turned and left the room, picked up a prostitute and ran upstairs. Soon after, loud slapping sounds began to emanate from them.

Baelish stroked his chin and muttered to himself in a voice only he could hear, "So, my dear Varys, how will you react to the news that there is a young man in King's Landing who wields magical powers? It's something to look forward to..."

As soon as he finished speaking, he quickly took out a piece of paper, scribbled a line of small characters on it, and then stuffed it into the mailbox along with the ring, handing it to the servant who was squatting at the door.

Without saying a word, the latter quickly ran to the rooftop and released a raven.

About ten minutes later, Zhang Cheng, who had just returned to his residence, received a letter from the housekeeper. After opening the sealed lid, he immediately saw a note that read: "My young friend, from today onwards your name is Mason Aspen. I will send someone to deliver the details later."

Chapter 0101 Plan

"Mason Aspen, twenty-five years old, with black hair and black eyes, has no living relatives. His grandfather distinguished himself as a mercenary knight, was promoted to hereditary nobleman, and received a small fief. However, due to mismanagement, the estate had accumulated a huge debt by this generation, forcing him to sell the land to pay it off, retaining only the noble title..."

After reviewing the documents he had just received, Zhang Cheng couldn't help but shake his head with a smile, secretly lamenting how miserable this guy's life was.

As a nobleman, he was forced to sell his ancestral lands due to debt. If nothing unexpected happens, after his death, his son or daughter will lose their noble title and be reduced to working with common merchants.

The reason is simple: in the feudal system, land determines food output, food output determines how many people can be fed, and the population determines how many full-time professional soldiers can be trained, which is the so-called war potential.

Anyone with a modicum of sense understands that a nobleman who has lost his territory is like a tree that has lost its roots. No matter how lush and leafy it may appear on the surface, it will eventually wither and die, and it has no value in winning him over.

Since there is no value in winning them over, there is naturally no need for a marriage alliance. If a man cannot marry a woman with noble blood, will his children be recognized by the noble circle?

The answer is obviously no.

Zhang Cheng casually lit the documents and threw them into the copper basin, then quickly shifted his attention to a pair of silver-white armor.

It goes without saying that this is the enchanted armor he prepared specifically for the martial arts tournament, but due to the differences in energy systems between different worlds, it has never been completed.

With the martial arts tournament about to begin, he had no choice but to abandon his original design and instead create a semi-finished product that relied on its own arcane energy.

Of course, since metal and leather severely impede the flow of arcane energy, he would temporarily lose his ability to cast spells once he put on the armor.

Zhang Cheng sometimes wondered why the parchment allowed him to travel between different magical worlds, and what it was constantly hinting at.

After all, based on the three worlds he has experienced so far, each world has its own unique power system. Although the knowledge from the other two worlds can serve as a reference, it cannot be used directly. It requires extensive research and practice to integrate a small part of it.

Perhaps the purpose of the parchment was for him to discover the commonalities among all these incredible worlds through research and exploration, and then to achieve some ulterior motive.

As an observant person, Zhang Cheng felt that he had grasped a key point: energy.

Whether it's the arcane energy, shadow energy, natural energy, divine energy, and so on that are ubiquitous in the world of Azeroth, or the mysterious energy on the magical version of Earth whose name is yet to be determined, they are all the foundation supporting the vast supernatural power group. If these energies were lost, the power system of both worlds would collapse instantly.

However, the world in which A Song of Ice and Fire takes place seems to be slightly different from the previous two. Its mysterious energy is not always present, but rather exhibits a specific periodicity.

According to descriptions in books and TV series, once the mysterious energy begins to return, whether it is extinct dragons or people who suddenly master magical powers, they will all spring up like mushrooms after rain.

If Zhang Cheng can decipher the secrets before the energy tide arrives, he will instantly become the most powerful individual on the entire continent of Westeros, easily influencing the outcome of a war, leaving even Daenerys Targaryen and her three dragons to stand aside.