Chess Mage of Faerûn

Chapter 224 Parting Words
"This doesn't look like your work, sir." After comparing it, Zhang Yuan felt that the teleportation array in front of him looked like a product of arcane art.

"Nonsense, why bother this old man when there's a readily available teleportation portal from the cloud giant?" Garas rolled his eyes, walked to the core of the magic circle, fiddled with it for a while, and then stood up:

"Alright, this teleportation array is now pointing to your caravan's lodging location. Go on."

This farewell was uneventful; after a series of hugs and goodbyes, only the old man and the young boy remained on the scene.

"Alright, now that everyone's gone, kid, tell me properly what happened at the altar back then?" The old man's face was unusually serious as he stared at the junior in front of him, as if trying to see through the other's little schemes.

Facing the scrutiny of a powerful figure, it would be a lie to say he wasn't nervous. Zhang Yuan, who usually used a joking and laughing face to cover up his true feelings, felt a dampness on his back at this moment.

Fortunately, it wasn't the first time they had met, and he knew the other person's temperament and personality to some extent. Considering their past relationship, he didn't feel much fear. Instead, he felt more like a child caught cheating by a teacher.

“Grandpa, there are some things that I don’t understand myself and can’t explain. I did absorb some of the energy that dissipated after Grando died, but it was purified by you. I was sure there would be no negative effects before I absorbed it.”

"Young, average skills, but plenty of tricks up his sleeve." With a snort, Gallas planted his cane into the grass and stepped forward empty-handed.
"Don't move, let me check you out."

In short, Master Zhang had no choice but to suppress his discomfort and let the strange old man in front of him examine his body.

Fortunately, there were no other actions, and even more fortunately, there were no other crazy tricks like the previous "spirit blessing". Garas simply made a glow in his hand and pressed it against the top of his head.

When Zhang Yuan was patted on the head, he felt as if he had returned to that state of spiritual wandering, and at the same time, he felt as if he was being scrutinized.

Not long after, the old man's hand left his head, and Zhang Yuan regained his normal vision, looking at the other man with some nervousness.

"Consider yourself lucky, kid. The abyssal essence of Grandor has probably been completely eradicated. You've gotten a great deal without getting involved in any of that troublesome pollution and erosion." Garas lowered his hand, his expression much more relaxed.

However, his tone remained stern: "You may have heard Tyrantil's catchphrase, that luck always slips away faster than you think. I have never agreed with his idea."

He looked directly at his old friend's disciple and said, "But I have to warn you today. You've been too audacious. At your current level, you shouldn't and can't possibly come into contact with this level of power. You may have gotten lucky this time, but no one can guarantee that such good fortune will happen again, not even the voters of Lady Lucky."

Zhang Yuan knew in his heart that he had the system as his backer, but he would not ignore the other party's warning and concern. If it were someone without a cheat code, or a system, or divine bloodline, the outcome would be ninety-nine percent of the time: either death or madness.

Let alone the terrifying and troublesome nature of the abyss, is the seemingly gentle source of nature easy to mess with? Its domineering nature can be seen from that wooden arrow.

Therefore, Zhang Yuan accepted the other party's reprimand and instruction with great humility, or at least outwardly without any fault.

After the old man scolded him for a while, he finally let go of the audacious little rascal. He took out his pipe, lit it, and put it to his lips. The two of them slowly strolled towards the high platform in front of the main city tower.

"The Moon Elf delegation has left, leaving only Talinda here. Here, take this." The old man said, handing over a roll of what looked like tree bark. Zhang Yuan took it, examined it, and felt it was indeed tree bark, but with many symbols, emblems, and patterns drawn on it.

Before Zhang Yuan could even speak, Galas gave his answer: "It's just a teleportation scroll, so you can take the person with you when you leave."

That's really thoughtful... The monk couldn't help but feel uneasy.

"And what about you, old man?"

"Me?" The old man pointed at himself and laughed. "Now that things are settled here, I have some free time to go for a trip to the south. I'll take this opportunity to see your teacher. I wonder how he managed to raise such a treasure like you."

This... I wonder what it would be like if these two old men with such different personalities met. How did they become companions in the first place? Zhang Yuan felt a little regretful that he couldn't go along to see a good show.

But now that the old man is really leaving, there is something that will cause some trouble.

The monk pulled out a scroll from his robes. It looked like parchment doodled with a green highlighter, but it was none other than Sir Anlele's relic.

As soon as the parchment appeared, it caught Gallas's attention. He took the tattered page and frowned more and more. He folded the scroll in his hand for a while, then suddenly pulled out the pipe from his mouth and slammed it hard onto the parchment.

呲味~
The still-burning tobacco leaves, sparking, landed on the roll, first sending up a wisp of dark green smoke, followed by a sound like boiling oil splashing.

Zhang Yuan was somewhat surprised and felt a little sorry for the old man's actions and the intense reaction between the two, but he couldn't stop him and could only watch.

As the monk stared anxiously, the sparks from the tobacco leaf went out, and the green runes on the parchment scroll dimmed, losing their previous brilliance and appearing severely weakened.

"Where did you pick this up? Did you raid a lich's lair?" Garas brushed the tobacco residue off the parchment, rolled it up, and looked at Zhang Yuan.

The mage then recounted the incident where the team was attacked by vampires at night. However, the old man was somewhat skeptical after listening. Could a mere vampire possess such a rare item? But after a moment's thought, he realized that although the young man was cunning, there was no need for him to lie in this place, so he didn't ask any more questions.

As Gallas walked, he filled his pipe with tobacco leaves, not even bothering to speak, until the fire was reignited. He took a deep, satisfying drag, then turned to look at Zhang Yuan:

"This thing is undoubtedly the work of a necromancer, and it looks like it's at least part of a legendary item. That's not so bad, but what's interesting is that this item is probably not a product of the prime material plane. Instead, it seems to be a craft from Grandor's hometown."

"Is this the work of those devils again?" Zhang Yuan asked, somewhat surprised.

"What's so strange about it? When it comes to manipulating the undead and souls, these scum from the lower planes are experts." The old man pointed his pipe at the mage and said, "It's hard to say how useful this scroll will be, but the hidden tricks and curses on it are extraordinary. Keep this for now, and I'll just give it to your teacher later."

(End of this chapter)