Arcane Journey

Chapter 329 Guidance of the Mage God Azuth
The brilliance of the morning sun sprinkled.

After successfully solving Guangze's dark ritual, Brian set off towards Shadow Valley without stopping.

Before leaving the border of Cormyr, he had already traveled a long distance along the northern horse road.

This time he went to Shadow Valley alone, not that he was unwilling to be accompanied by the lady warlock, the main reason was that when dealing with the black dragon Despiel, Kara Dena activated her own warlock blood and used all her own The power was injected into the Chaos Wand, and after assisting him to successfully kill the ancient black dragon, he fell into a weak state for a long time.

Faced with this situation, he had no choice but to send it back to the Imperial City of Susar, and set out for Shadow Valley alone.

At this moment, judging from the map, it was only over an hour before he reached Shadow Valley.

Although the end point is ahead, his mood has also become inexplicably complicated.

He couldn't even tell what he was feeling at the moment, whether he was nervous or looking forward to something...

Thinking of this, he couldn't help slowing down, recalling the series of subversive conspiracies of the lost lady Shar against the goddess of magic, Mystra, in the game world.

In this long adventure, many famous forces from all over the world have appeared one after another.

These include the Lost Lady Shar, the Murder God Cyric, the temple and priests of the Dark Lord Bane, the Zhentarim and the Harper's Rangers of the North, the Elven Court and the Drow House of the Underdark, and The ghosts of Sultansar and the magical creatures guarding the ancient heritage underground in the Ennook Desert, the ancient guardians of Mies Drannor who are still hidden in the world, and the great arcanists of the Netheril period, etc... …

In particular, Shadow Valley will become the main battle location where many forces gather.

In order to complete the task of repairing the magic net in such a complex and powerful force, to be honest, Brian didn't have much confidence in his heart.

Therefore, he couldn't help guessing that this should be the root cause of his expectation or nervousness.

He didn't think about it any more, and started to hurry on his way with peace of mind.

On the forest road leading to Shadow Valley, thick leaves cover both sides of the road, and the cleanliness of the middle of the road shows that although Shadow Valley is occupied by evil forces, there are still civilians, adventurers, or mercenary groups active. trace.

When Brian's mount was walking along the avenue towards the hillside, he suddenly noticed that in the area half a kilometer to his left, there were countless streams of thick smoke rising into the sky.

With a change in his expression, he drove his horse to a woods, and with the help of the trees, he looked towards the scene of the incident through Eagle Eye.

Soon he saw a small village sitting by the creek, surrounded by the shadow of the oaks on the hill.

This simple village is composed of about a dozen families, and there is a conspicuous water mill. Unfortunately, it has been turned into ruins, and all the buildings have been engulfed by the fire.

A small group of heavily armed humans and humanoid creatures occupied the open area, and around them, many unarmed villagers fell in disorder.

Although at this distance, Brian couldn't tell whether the villagers were all dead or just comatose, but he unexpectedly discovered that this group of robbers, mainly humans and humanoid creatures, seemed to be in a confrontation.

Brian got off his horse, used spells to hide himself, came to the vicinity of the robbers, and carefully observed the surrounding situation.

With his current strength, it is very easy to kill this group of people, but he is about to arrive at Shadow Valley, so he wants to learn about the specific situation in the valley through the information that these bandits have.

As he expected, he used invisibility to approach the group of robbers without being noticed by anyone, even the wolf man ranger with a keen sense of smell, did not feel the slightest difference.

After careful observation, he discovered that this small village under the Oak Mountain was destroyed by two mercenary squads of the Zhentarim occupation army.

Among the 36 residents, nine were dead, seven were in a state of near-death, and four were just in a coma. The rest were bound and gathered under an oak tree.

The two groups of mercenaries attacked the village together, but then fell out again.

This group of mercenaries, mainly ogres, belonged to a mercenary group called Broken Tooth, which was named after the two fangs of their leader who were broken by some kind of hard object.

They stand about 3 meters tall, have dark brown skin, a repulsive stench, sharp, blood-stained teeth, wear well-crafted leather armor, and hold huge axes.

They have a rough blue circle drawn on their chests, with an image of a first quarter moon separated by a bolt of lightning.

Standing at the forefront of the humanoids seemed to be their leader, a full head taller than the rest.

In one particular standout, the handle of his ax is inlaid with an assortment of teeth.

Humans are the local force of Shadow Valley, the Skull Mercenary Group.

The mercenaries were all wearing half-length armor, holding large steel shields, long swords, and short bows ready to shoot at any time. On the shield surface was a picture of a human skull being shot at by a femur-shaped stick. Click on the next graph.

Seeing this pattern, Brian couldn't help thinking of Melko, one of the three gods of death, a god who was killed by the goddess of magic in the catastrophe of the saints.

Obviously, this should be the origin of the name of their mercenary group.

Their leader was a grizzled veteran with a short gray beard and a loud voice.

In the battle with the residents, the ogre lost two people and the human lost four. The wealth, copper coins and silver products, and family heirlooms accumulated by the villagers for generations were piled up in the open space between the two mercenaries.

Although two groups of mercenaries attacked the small village together, they had conflicts over the distribution of the spoils.

"Has's subordinates are the most powerful, and they must get the most loot." The ogre leader yelled at the human leader with a big ax on his shoulder; "Don't force Haas to do it, Haas will do it, even he will be afraid .”

As soon as the words fell, a group of ferocious humanoid creatures standing behind the ogre leader clenched their weapons tightly, making expressions that were about to be blacked out.

"Four of us died. The most troublesome paladin in this village was killed by my subordinates." The human leader frowned, "We should be the ones who contributed the most. If you dare to mess around, I will kill these paladins." Report the matter to Sir Selour."

Having said that, Brian could clearly see the fear in the eyes of the human mercenaries, they were no match for this group of humanoid creatures.

It could be seen that they were on the verge of war, and it only took a little provocation of the mindless ogres to make one team think they were being attacked by the other, and infighting would ensue.

If Bryan did nothing at this moment and just waited for the development of the situation, then the more rational human mercenaries would rather suffer a little loss, and reach an agreement with the ogre on the spoils, and then leave separately.

Brian thought for a while, and appeared without warning. Before the mercenaries on both sides could react, the group of about 50 mercenaries were all drowned in the magic of the bombardment and died.

At the end of the battle, Brian waved his hand, and all the ropes that bound the villagers fell off automatically, and those villagers who were seriously injured or unconscious were also rescued by him through simple healing abilities.

After the surviving villagers expressed their gratitude to him excitedly, a burly middle-aged man came over on his own initiative.

The other seemed to have been an adventurer, but from his gait, he had a slight limp, which was obviously the reason for his seclusion here.

"What's going on with these mercenaries?" Brian asked, "What happened in Shadow Valley."

"Honorable Mr. Mage." The middle-aged man said, "This group of mercenaries came to our village in the name of 'Ban's Fist' to plunder."

The middle-aged man glanced at the body of a young paladin who was being carried away, and said through gritted teeth, "Damn it, ever since Moglin, the lord of Shadow Valley, invited Zhentarim troops to enter Shadow Valley, people from the valley, All the evil mercenary groups from Sembia and the Moon Sea area gathered here. The two groups that attacked us were mercenaries hired by the dark intelligence network, and they seemed to be chasing a person named Azara Eagle Hand. "

"This person named Azala probably has something to do with Miss Dove who died in Misty Valley." An old man who came over said.

Azara Hawkhand.

Brian was all too familiar with this name.

The two electors, Storm and Simbu, led the elite troops in the valley, including this Melikai's ranger Azara.

After the magic net was torn apart, Storm and Simbu couldn't get close to Shadow Valley because of the silver fire, and were forcibly teleported away by the life-saving spell.

But the troops led by them were more unlucky. Without the help of Storm and Simbu, they suddenly became leaderless and helpless, so they had to hide and wait for the arrival of reinforcements.

The first task for Brian to go to Shadow Valley alone is to find Azala. In this way, he can gather an elite army in Shadow Valley, and Azala can also help him contact the elves from Cormanthor reinforcements.

Storm, the leader of the Harper Alliance, also told him that the leader of the support army sent by the elves turned out to be the 'Wearer of the Crown' Ilsevery, the future elf queen of Myth Draenor.

If he could get the help of the elf queen holding the ruler's blade, then the pressure of his next mission would be much easier.

Therefore, the main task for him to go to Shadow Valley right now is to find Azara first, and then let him contact the elves' reinforcements and the dormant elite troops.

Seeing that he couldn't find any detailed information, Brian guided these refugees to a safe refuge, and then headed towards Shadow Valley again.

The time is about an hour or so.

When Brian saw the outline of the Valley of Shadows through the gap in the forest, a wizard in a black robe appeared in his sight.

He rode a black creature with bat wings, flew down from the sky and landed on the ground.

The squatting posture of the black-robed wizard's mount and its inflated body are directly reminiscent of a toad with wings. It is about 6 meters long and 2.5 meters high. Its black skin is covered with irregular bumps. , with a long, narrow and toothy face, and a pair of red eyes.

"Welcome to Shadow Valley."

The black-robed wizard riding on the lazy toad's saddle pointed a wand at Brian, his tone and demeanor were condescending.

"Now, report your name and the reason why you set foot on Lord Moglin's territory, otherwise..."

"Otherwise what?" Brian looked at the black-robed wizard whose strength was around the third level with interest.

The blocker who appeared in front of him was one of the members of Zhentarim's special organization 'Sky Mages'.

Sky Mage is a special advanced profession that can only be mastered by joining the Zhenta Forest Club.

Any wizard or warlock who advances to this profession can bring their own magic pet and be blessed in the Bane Temple, making it grow a pair of wings that can fly.

Whether it is mice, turtles, caterpillars and other small animals, they can grow a pair of wings while being blessed to help wizards fight.

"If you don't tell me the purpose of coming here, then before the boots of the Lord of Darkness kick your ass, get out!" The black-robed wizard raised his wand, showing a terrifying smile.

Brian raised his finger without looking on, and the dispelling magic instantly lifted all the magic protection of the other party. Then he dissociated, and the black-robed wizard, together with his magic pet, disappeared.

In the Shadow Valley at this moment, any pilgrims, envoys of foreign powers, envoys of hostile religious forces, and people who are nosy will be ordered to leave.

And those who refuse to speak out, refuse to leave when expelled, or openly challenge the authority of the Zhentarim or the Moglin lords will be attacked.

Only those who claimed to be merchants or mercenaries entered the valley undisturbed.

But in Brian's opinion, in order to allow himself to enter the Valley of Shadows silently, there is nothing better than killing all those who stand in his way.

After all, his Zilong mark has a strong anti-detection ability. Without mastering the divine energy, it is almost impossible for a legendary expert to predict his whereabouts.

After quietly coming to Shadow Valley, Brian discovered that the residents of the entire valley and the occupying army of the Zhentarim were not getting along very harmoniously.

All the residents have been severely threatened. Although some surviving opponents have secretly formed the Shadow Valley Freedom Alliance and occasionally gather together to complain, it still has little effect.

The occupying forces have regarded Shadow Valley as a winter base for new operations in the spring.

However, Brian can still feel that the drowsy appearance of Shadow Valley at this moment and the unsociable habits of the local residents have probably paralyzed at least half a dozen enemies who claim to be conquerors, making them mistakenly despise themselves The goal.

According to the instructions of the storm, Brian came to the largest Old Skull Tavern in Shadow Valley.

The tavern has a great reputation among adventurers, merchants and merchants who travel the northern bridleways.

Because of the honesty and integrity of the operator, the famous mead, and the safe environment of Shadow Valley.

But since the occupying army moved in, the tavern was like a magnet, attracting the mercenaries who wanted to make money.

Brutal, shadowy characters now live in the tavern, keeping the lobby bar buzzing all day long.

Although he wandered around in the tavern and sat in an inconspicuous corner without attracting anyone's attention, soon a lady who looked like the tavern owner came over on her own initiative.

This is a graceful and strong woman with long brown hair always braided in many small braids.

Although she was wearing a simple but delicate black dress, Brian felt a dangerous smell in her.

This lady was called Olenna, and she had inherited the tavern from his father for about five years, and she had another identity: Harper scout.

When Brian walked into the tavern without a sound, he had successfully connected with the member of the Harper Alliance through the method taught by the storm.

"I need to know the location of Azara." Brian said straight to the point through telepathic voice transmission.

"He has been captured by the Zhentarim." The tavern owner put a glass of bright red wine in front of Brian, and responded: "At the moment he is being held in the prison of Cragg Castle, where there is a newly built With the portal, the Zhentarim can continuously summon reinforcements from Zhentil Keep to help defend Shadow Valley."

While Olenna was secretly communicating with him, the other party quietly handed a bundled map to Brian's hand.

"Please take it easy, honored guest."

The tavern owner pinched a salty pig's hand that was trying to touch his buttocks, and waited until the owner of the salty pig's hand let out a scream like killing a pig, then turned and left with a smile on his face.

Brian sat in the corner, patiently sipping the fine wine in his glass, and waited until he drank it in small sips before leaving quietly.

When he came to an area that no one could notice, he immediately opened the scroll given to him by the tavern owner, and found that there was a detailed map of the interior of Kragg Castle, as well as the location where Azara was imprisoned and the Zhentarim Society. Portal.

Just as Brian was about to leave this place, he suddenly discovered that a transparent giant hand shimmering with white light had appeared in front of him at some point.

A manifestation of Azuth, the mage god.

Brian looked at the manifestation in front of him with a face full of surprise. He looked around vigilantly, and then said with a slightly respectful expression, "I salute you, the supreme one of the magic lord."

Azuth, the god of mages, is the god of arcane spellcasters and has served as advisor to the goddess of magic.

He is also the lover of the second generation goddess of magic.

There are rumors that since the second-generation goddess of magic was killed by the guardian god Heim in the troubled years, and the mortal mage Midnight became the third-generation goddess of magic, Azuth, the god of mages, has been in a state of self-destruction. Few fulfilled the duties of the Goddess of Magic from the gods and advisors.

The reason for this is mainly because the camp of the second-generation goddess of magic is lawful neutral, while the camp of the third-generation goddess of magic called Midnight is neutral and good.

The difference in camps has led to all kinds of open and secret battles between the goddess of magic and Cyric and Shar since she took office, and this mage god rarely participates in it.

In Azuth's words: The goddess of magic has not yet fully understood how to play her role as a balance maintainer and a neutral arbiter of the magic network.

Although Brian knew in the game world that Azuth, the mage god, had appeared in this battle for the magic net, he was quite surprised to appear in front of him suddenly.

He saw a huge index finger pointing into the distance, and looking in the direction of the finger, there was an area on the mountain in the northeast that shone with a faint silver light.

Then, a heavy and slightly echoing voice sounded beside him:
"The young arcane seeker, the emissary of Mystra, the witch of the Shadow Valley withered, and fell into a deep sleep along with her favorite staff of the archmage."

"Constrained by the servants of the Lost Lady, she is in a situation where she needs help most at this moment."

"You can find her remaining ashes where injustice has been done in the name of justice."

"What she has sacrificed and killed, the unburned residue, is imprisoning her."

"Go, let the roaring sea pour in, and drown those monsters that feed on the silver fire of Mystra."

"Her kiss is blessed, and the longest of the seven will help you and limit this conspiracy."

After the old voice finished speaking, the translucent giant hand shimmering with light automatically collapsed into the air.

Brian came back to his senses and looked at the place pointed by Azuth through the eagle eye technique. There was a Watcher's Mountain not far to the northeast outside the Valley of Shadows.

A tomb was built on this hill.

"It turned out that the staff of the Archmage was buried in that tomb. So if you want to repair the magic net, you can only rescue Shiron's soul first." Brian nodded thoughtfully, confirming his next move. Target.

(End of this chapter)