Chess Mage of Faerûn

Chapter 62 Rewards and Conditions

Grand Duke Iltan was quite straightforward, stating his position directly:
"Ten years have passed. In these ten years, I have tried countless times to find him. I have even spent a lot of money to consult those incompetent fake fortune tellers, but to no avail. Until today, when I had given up hope, you two brought him to my side. Today, it must be Tamora smiling at me."

"As for your contributions and assistance, I, Grand Duke Iltan of Flame Fist, will certainly give you a reward commensurate with it."

Before Zhang Yuan could even offer a polite greeting, Nancy spoke up:
“I don’t need any reward. Give mine to Chanem and Andrei.”

"Why? Nancy, without you we wouldn't have been able to find Garrick at all, and we wouldn't have been able to take him away from Xike'er either." Zhang Yuan understood her thoughts to some extent, but still tried to persuade her.

"No need. I've merely made amends for my past mistakes. What's there to reward me for? Besides, Madam can never come back."

“That’s not your fault at all. If we’re talking about responsibility, my fault is greater than yours, Nancy. Your self-punishment should end now. Flame Fist welcomes you anytime.” Grand Duke Iltan interrupted Nancy’s self-pity.

"Thank you, Grand Duke Iltan. But I haven't decided what I want to do in the future. I won't refuse your reward, but how I allocate and use it is my business."

In the end, Grand Duke Iltan gave up trying to persuade them and led the two to a storeroom.

“You two are both professionals. Nancy, you haven’t neglected to maintain your old equipment, but you can never have too much equipment and magical items.” Iltan then looked at Zhang Yuan: “As for you, Chanem, you seem to be one of Ska’s team members, right? And a mage? You can choose any three items from the storeroom.”

Zhang Yuan was overjoyed. Equipment was much more attractive than gold coins. This time, the Grand Duke was really too generous, whether to the natives or the players.

Zhang Yuan, upon entering the Flame Fist storeroom, was like a mouse falling into a rice jar. Overwhelmed by the sheer variety, he didn't know where to begin. Seeing Nancy still standing at the door, he called out to her.

Nancy shook her head: "I said I didn't want a reward. You can have this one too. Pick six items for yourself."

Zhang Yuan replied, "I asked you to help me choose, who said I was going to give it to you?"

Nancy was speechless with anger upon hearing this, but she still followed him into the storeroom.

Flame Fist's warehouse is truly enormous; after all, it has to supply an entire army, or even just the officers' equipment, so such a scale is quite normal.

Six pieces of equipment may sound like a lot, and they are indeed a lot, but compared to this entire warehouse, they are nothing.

In order to select some valuable items and avoid buying common goods, we had to ask this "old thief" in front of us for help. We believed that Nancy, who was experienced and had been with the Grand Duchess and Duchess for many years, would definitely have a good eye.

While touching and looking around, Zhang Yuan pulled out a long sword. The blade and hilt formed a cross shape. The hilt was engraved with the symbol of the Flame Fist. Both sides of the spine of the sword had blood grooves and patterns. The blade was sharp and gleamed with a cold light.

Nancy glanced at it: "This is the standard-issue sword used by high-ranking officers of the Flame Fist. It's a +2 magic weapon and very practical. If you need a weapon, I recommend you get one with elemental damage."

Although it's a standard weapon, practicality is what matters. After wandering around with Nancy, they finally found a longsword with fire damage. They happily carried it on their backs along with its scabbard, and even gave it a name in their hearts: Teebu's Blazing Sword.

Having solved the weapon problem, Zhang Yuan followed Nancy around, searching through the items and eventually selecting four:
High-grade Battle Robe: +2 Mage Robe, with some physical resistance, one Mage Armor per day, and one Rainbow Spray.
Speed ​​Boots: You can run, but you can't escape. They increase movement speed and provide some agility and dodging ability.

Healing Ring: Grants the wearer a small amount of regenerative ability, healing minor injuries once a day.

Scarab Necklace: +2 Magic Items, provides some spell saving ability.

Although these items are all low-level magical equipment and items, none of them exceeding level two, they are practical, and besides, Flame Fist wouldn't have that many so-called high-level magical items to equip everyone.

"I guess the Grand Duke also has a private high-level equipment depot," someone thought to themselves.

Even so, he was very satisfied. He was almost completely transformed, and his combat power had increased significantly, if not doubled.

“You can pick out another one, hurry up, we’ve been here long enough.” “What equipment do you need, Nancy?”

"I told you I don't need it, didn't you understand?"

"What I mean is, I'd like to ask you to learn swordsmanship, and this item can serve as a tuition fee for your apprenticeship."

Nancy was somewhat surprised: "Aren't you a member of Ska's team? His swordsmanship is no worse than mine, aren't you going to take the long way around?"

“Captain Ska is indeed very strong, but he specializes in sword and shield, the traditional warrior style,” Zhang Yuan explained. “As for me, I follow the path of a dual-sword swordsman.”

“Dual swords, sword saint?” Nancy, who seemed to understand something, pondered, “I can teach you some things about dual swords, but sword saint? It’s not easy to find a teacher here for this mysterious profession that came from Karatu along with the monks.”

"That's all for the future. Right now, I want to learn dual-weapon combat techniques from you, as well as footwork and movement."

"Oh? So you're asking me for a favor? Wait, let me think of what terms to offer."

The person watching Nancy was genuinely afraid that she would ask for an exorbitant price to become her apprentice, since knowledge and skills were not cheap in Faerûn.

“I need you to come with me to Neverwinter at the right time. There are some things that need to be resolved.” Nancy made an unexpected request.

"What exactly are you going to do? Is it related to what happened back then? And why me? There are so many people in the Flame Fist Sect, surely the Grand Duke wouldn't refuse your request?" Zhang Yuan asked, somewhat puzzled.

Nancy's words were tinged with melancholy: "It can only be said to be the aftermath of what happened back then. Don't ask me the specifics. As for why it was you?"

She turned to look at Zhang Yuan: "I've seen mages before, but it's rare to see one like you with all sorts of bizarre tricks. Plus, you're a part-time warrior, so I don't have to worry about taking care of an old man."

"High-level mages don't need your help."

"No, I don't need them, because I can't find them to help me at all."

That makes a lot of sense, and I was speechless. Zhang Yuan thought to himself and agreed to the condition, but made an excuse that he needed to learn magic and couldn't go on the Neverwinter Journey anytime soon.

"It's alright, a little extra time won't matter." Nancy was quite patient. "By the way, give me this resistance ring."

"What? Didn't you just say you didn't want it?"

"This is the deposit, stop talking nonsense."

Finally, the two left with the six pieces of equipment they had chosen, but Iltan and Garrick were nowhere to be seen.

The Grand Duke's adjutant came forward, first sizing up the two of them. After Zhang Yuan showed the items, the adjutant nodded and had the soldiers behind him bring out ten gold foils.

"These are gold savings certificates issued by the Temple of Wojnir. Each one can be exchanged for one hundred gold coins at the Temple of Wojnir. This is the Grand Duke's way of thanking you."

The person, full of thanks, took it and put it in their pocket, saying to Nancy beside them, "Let's go find Andre and divide it together. He didn't take any magical items this time, so he should get a bigger share."

Nancy glanced at him, too lazy to even speak, and Zhang Yuanquan took it as a tacit agreement.

(End of this chapter)