Becoming a god starts with enhancing fire arrows.

Because their teacher was sitting in front, the three apprentice monks did not dare to make any big moves.

The three of them exchanged a glance, conveying the shock in each other's eyes.

The mage looked to be about the same age as the three of them, but he wore an elite adventurer's badge on his chest.

The teacher's magical talent was already powerful enough, but after studying magic for so many years, he was only an elite-level mage.

Has this young mage's magical skill reached a level comparable to his teacher's?

The bald Barnaby was taken aback when he saw the young, unfamiliar mage in a mage's robe and holding a staff.

I could hardly believe my eyes.

He stared at the badge on Rhodes' chest for a long time before suddenly getting up.

Suppressing his anger towards the guild shop, he forced a smile at Rhodes.

Regardless of age, this is the proper etiquette for adventurers of the same level.

"Barnaby Whittaker, an elite mage."

Rhodes also bowed, smiled, and gave his pseudonym registered with the Adventurers' Guild:

"Rhodes Gary, like you, is a mage."

Barnaby, upon hearing this, was filled with respect and gestured for Rhodes to sit opposite him: "May I ask which master you studied magic under?"

Do Buddhist monks have a custom of introducing themselves to each other when they meet?

Rhodes blurted out, "My teacher is the great magician Merlin."

"Merlin?" Barnaby's face showed a thoughtful expression.

According to his speculation, the teacher of such a talented young mage must not be unknown; he might even be a legendary mage on the continent.

But I had never heard of the name Merlin before.

Am I just ignorant?

Barnaby thought to himself.

Rhodes continued, "My teacher was a powerful mage skilled in divination, but he suffered some setbacks after experiencing certain events and went into seclusion in a forest."

His name may have long been forgotten.

"Is that so?" Barnaby nodded in awe, convinced that such a mage must possess terrifying magical skills.

"I don't know why you were so angry just now, Mr. Barnaby?"

"Sigh!" Barnaby's expression, which had just softened, twitched again when he heard Rhodes' question.

"The staff I was using had a problem, and I was thinking that since I was going to replace it, I should get a good one."

So he took a precious magic engraving and wanted to sell it, so he added a few gold coins to ask the blacksmith to help him exchange it for an epic-level staff.

"But I never expected the guild shop to hold onto the magic runes I pawned for so long, and now they're telling me the staff forging has to be postponed!"

"Normally it wouldn't matter if it were a few days late, but this is an emergency and I need it tomorrow."

"Everything has been delayed!"

The blacksmith might be working overtime in Cassandra's factory and has no time for your staff.

Rhodes then asked, "Mr. Barnaby, please calm down."

"May I ask what happened that made you so anxious to use your staff?"

Barnaby hesitated for a moment before speaking, "Well, telling you wouldn't hurt..."

As he spoke, he suddenly looked at the waitress standing next to Rhodes.

The waitress immediately bowed to Barnaby and Rhodes and quickly left.

Seeing that there were no more guild members in the room, Barnaby sighed again: "You're an adventurer from out of town, aren't you? Have you ever heard of Fish West Village?"

Rhodes shook his head honestly: "I have only been in town for a short time."

Barnaby began to speak:

"Yuxi Village used to be a fairly large village, not far east of Phil Town. However, it suffered heavy losses after being kidnapped by alien races several times."

"Later, some villagers moved into the town to avoid the foreign tribes, leaving only twenty or thirty people in the village."

"You grew up in Yuxi Village?" Rhodes made a guess.

"Yes." Barnaby nodded. "I grew up there, and later I went to study magic at the Nakara Magic Academy, one of the three major cities, and left the village."

"I never imagined that the village would look like this when I came back six years ago."

"I regret not fighting alongside Guild Master Raymond to vanquish the alien races, so I want to take advantage of my increased strength to make some small contributions to the village."

Why do you say it like the village has another enemy?

Rhodes pondered the reasons behind the events.

As Barnaby spoke, his voice gradually faded.

His gaze shifted to his own secret technique, Silver Glow.

A hint of delight flickered in his eyes: "Your staff... is it epic-grade? Does it have any sub-class restrictions?"

Looking at Rhodes' youthful face, he hesitated and said, "I'd like to borrow it for a few days. I'll return it to you once my new staff arrives."

"Would it be convenient to name a price?"

Rhodes's gaze happened to fall on the magical markings etched onto the magic paper.

Suddenly, I felt a fluctuation in my magical power.

His expression showed no abnormality.

"No rush," Rhodes smiled gently. "Could you tell me what's been happening in the village lately?"

Barnaby reluctantly shifted his gaze from the staff, staring at Rhodes as he asked, "You know those scumbag lizardmen from the Sunrise District often kidnap humans from villages near the town, right?"

Rhodes nodded.

He did know, and he knew that some reptilians were simply after the profits from selling humans, while others were working for the "Black Hand."

Barnaby continued, "Fish West Village isn't far from Phil Town, and there aren't many people left there, so I didn't think it would be targeted by these sons of bitches."

"I didn't expect to run into two lizardmen trying to sneak into the village just two days ago. In a fit of anger, I killed them."

"After communicating with the spirits, I realized this was just a reconnaissance mission; they were planning to sell off the rest of the population!"

"You're worse than animals!"

Barnaby became increasingly agitated, eventually escalating into a tirade of profanities.

The three apprentices behind him had never seen their elegant magic teacher swear before, and they were quite frightened.

"But I regretted it afterwards. Killing them directly would have alerted the enemy, and I was afraid I wouldn't be able to handle a group of even stronger lizardmen if they came. That's why I was particularly anxious about the staff."

"You know Rhodes, just how important a good staff is to a mage."

"so......"

Barnaby's meaning is quite clear.

Rhodes' eyes lit up after hearing this.

He extracted two key words from Barnaby's rambling: kill lizardmen and be close to Phil town.

This is a timely help.

Rhodes suddenly smiled. "Mr. Barnaby, wasn't your purpose in borrowing the staff to deal with those damned lizardmen?"

"Since we are somewhat wary of the opponent's strength, why not find some help?"

Barnaby rubbed his smooth head: "I did think about finding help, but firstly, those lizardmen are, after all, guards of the Sunrise District. Although doing these things is not honorable, not many adventurers dare to be their enemies."

"Secondly..." he said, then suddenly stopped mid-sentence.

Secondly, they don't have money, right?

Rhodes thought to himself.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have exchanged the magic mark for money.

He gave a friendly smile: "Sorry, I can't lend you the staff."

Won't you lend it to me?

That makes sense. A staff is a weapon a mage relies on for survival, so it's reasonable for them not to lend it out.

Barnaby looked disappointed.

"However, you can try to use that magic mark to exchange for the help of two elite-level and one senior-level personnel."

"Help the village get rid of all those lizardmen who do dirty things."