Anser silently took Portia's warning to heart, though he wasn't overly concerned.
The real issue was how bizarre the whole incident had been. As long as he didn't stubbornly insist on keeping the shield, there were plenty of ways to resolve it.
He already possessed an Artifact, so he wasn't particularly attached to a somewhat underwhelming Legendary shield.
'I wonder if the President of the Magic Research Society has found a suitable item yet?'
Just as the thought crossed his mind, the dice gave a faint tremble, sending a subtle mental ripple through his consciousness.
He focused inward. The Adventuring Party icon glowed softly. Opening it brought up Makaria's Character Sheet, with the tiefling's slender projection floating beside it.
'She leveled up?'
Makaria had accumulated enough experience to reach Level 11. Once she advanced, she would officially join the ranks of high-level professionals.
Since the party's last major hunt, no one had leveled up—not because they hadn't been working hard, but because everyone had been cautious, making safety their top priority whenever they hunted.
Iris was earning experience the fastest, but she was saving it to unlock her innate magic, so she had no plans to level up for the time being.
Bratt was still the lowest level, but with so few opportunities to fight, his progress had naturally been slower.
'What kind of fighting could there possibly be on White Stone Island?' Anser wondered.
He immediately sent Quentin a Message.
Quentin was an elite hunter. Even if fighting had broken out, he would have been positioned in the rear, so a sudden message wouldn't put him in danger.
Quentin replied, {Nothing major. The governing team has been registering household records. A few pirate loyalists and descendants of the old pirate settlers caused trouble, but it's all been dealt with...}
Anser understood. Still, he knew Quentin was making it sound easier than it had been. Everyone knew he was busy, so they preferred not to trouble him with minor matters.
He stopped asking questions and turned his attention back to Makaria's Character Sheet, helping her level up.
At Level 11, the Battle Master gained the class feature Extra Attack, allowing her to unleash three attacks in rapid succession. It was a significant boost to her combat strength.
Other than that, there weren't many changes. She had simply become much tougher.
But for Makaria herself, the experience was completely different.
The very logic of her growth had been rewritten. Somehow, she instinctively understood how to train the Mage Slayer feat and had already grasped part of its abilities. She was only a single step away from mastering it completely.
It was almost...
...like a divine blessing.
Everyone knew it had something to do with Anser, but they simply kept it to themselves. No one discussed it or spread it around.
Anser wrote a congratulatory note and pinned it to the Party Storage bulletin board, congratulating Makaria on taking another step forward. At the same time, he asked whether anyone would be interested in visiting Waterdeep.
The bulletin board quickly turned into a message board, and everyone who saw it offered their congratulations.
Those on White Stone Island all wanted to visit Waterdeep. After all, they would be accompanying Anser tomorrow morning to visit Waterdeep's nobility, and arriving early to familiarize themselves with the city sounded like a good idea.
The others were all busy. Iris, meanwhile, had a poor impression of Waterdeep and had no interest in joining the excitement.
So Anser simply made a trip to White Stone Island and brought Giant Tail, Makaria, Adolf, and Lin Qiancheng back with him.
As evening fell, lights gradually flickered on throughout Waterdeep. Shops lit their lanterns one after another, while the streetlamps along the main avenues came alive in sequence, glittering like countless stars and driving back the darkness.
Walking through the streets, Anser found himself momentarily dazed, as though he had returned to his previous life.
"This is Lamp Street. Up ahead is the Great Market. There's a night market there—you can buy just about anything. Glowing flowers, nocturnal pets..." Portia chattered away cheerfully without pause.
"That statue..." Lin Qiancheng pointed toward an enormous figure ahead. "That's a construct, isn't it?"
"So you've heard the rumor too." Portia smiled. "It's called the Great Drunkard. I've never seen it move."
"That's not a rumor," Anser explained. "It doesn't move because it has no need to."
All eight Walking Statues had names: the Honorable Knight, the Swordmaiden, the Griffon, the Sahuagin Humbled, the God Catcher, the Great Drunkard, the Hawk Man, and the Lady Dreaming.
Of the eight, the Swordmaiden had been confirmed destroyed and could no longer move. The others were still fully operational.
"You're strange. It's obviously your first time here, you don't even know the streets, yet you seem to know so many of Waterdeep's secrets." Portia turned around as she led the way, walking backward in quick little steps.
"You can think of it as... being well-read."
"You humans are exhausting."
"We're paying our visit tomorrow. Should we buy some gifts?" Lin Qiancheng reminded him.
"I've already prepared everything." Anser took out a handwritten gift list and handed it to Lin Qiancheng. "What do you think?"
"Twelve bottles of holy water, two rare astral diamonds, two Potions of Invulnerability, and two paintings. Hmm... isn't this a bit extravagant?" Lin Qiancheng asked in confusion.
No matter how valuable the portal had been, a few thousand gold pieces would have been more than enough as a token of gratitude. These gifts were genuinely expensive.
The two astral diamonds alone were worth over ten thousand gold pieces. Rare-quality Potions of Invulnerability were hard to come by, with each bottle selling for at least three or four thousand gold pieces. Add the paintings—whose value was difficult to quantify—and the holy water, and the total came to no less than twenty thousand gold pieces.
"A human life can't be measured in money. Better to settle everything at once and leave them with nothing to criticize." Anser had more than enough money to afford it.
Since he intended to offer courtesy before resorting to force, the gifts had to be generous enough to keep anyone from finding fault with him.
The group wandered around for another two hours, bought some local specialties, then stopped by a tavern to watch a magic apprentice perform tricks. Only then did they finally leave, still reluctant to call it a day.
They did not return to Portia's house. Instead, Anser cast Teleport, took everyone outside the city, and then brought them all into Holrewen to rest.
It was both safe and comfortable.
...
The next morning.
Sunlight bathed the land, awakening it with vibrant life. Waterdeep had already stirred from its slumber. Trails of cooking smoke and streams of pedestrians stretched across the city like two broken lines heading in opposite directions, crossing each other from time to time.
The villagers of Undercliff first heard a strange humming noise, followed by the excited cries of children. Everyone rushed out of their homes and looked up, only to see a gigantic metallic dragonfly hovering above the village.
Its body was elegantly poised, its star-blue wings blurred into translucent streaks. Its head turned ever so slightly, so lifelike that it looked like a living creature.
"You've never seen one before, have you? That's a magic ship."
The elderly village chief sat outside his house, deliberately putting on the air of someone who knew exactly what he was talking about. Yet his eyes remained fixed on the massive object overhead without blinking, while the tobacco in his pipe gradually went out.
He had once been a fairly well-known adventurer himself, so of course he knew about magic ships. Since becoming the chief of Undercliff, he had seen them take off, land, and pass by Waterdeep many times, but this was the first time he had ever seen one this beautiful.
"You're lying! A magic ship is supposed to be a ship. That's a dragonfly!" The child's worldview was simple. He simply couldn't connect a dragonfly with a ship.
"What the hell do you know..."
...
Aboard the Dragonfly Ship, Lin Qiancheng sat at the spelljamming helm. Dressed in a white wizard's robe, with his hair neatly combed back, he wore an aloof expression.
Inside the cockpit, Stoll, Giant Tail, Makaria, and Adolf stood fully armed and in high spirits. Their weapons gleamed, while their hair and beards were neatly groomed.
Giant Tail and Adolf each carried two modest-sized gift boxes.
"The calibration is complete. We can depart at any time." Lin Qiancheng swept his gaze across the lush greenery below and the city of Waterdeep perched upon the mountainside, his eyes calm and profound.
Anser clicked open his pocket watch and glanced at it.
"Let's go. Keep the altitude under control."
"Understood."
The Dragonfly Ship shuddered as it came to life. It accelerated smoothly, though not at high speed, entering Waterdeep through the South Gate from several hundred meters in the air before turning northwest.
Lin Qiancheng intended to fly diagonally across the city, traveling from the southeastern South Gate straight to the Sea Ward in the northwest while avoiding the no-fly zone above Mount Waterdeep.
As for why they weren't flying over the sea instead?
Because nobody would see them there!
Not long after entering the city, a squad of griffon riders rose from the direction of Mount Waterdeep and flew straight toward the Dragonfly Ship.
The lead rider wore blue-and-white armor and carried a shield and lance. Through the dragonfly's compound eyes, which had suddenly become translucent, he caught sight of a familiar figure.
His pupils instantly contracted.
'Why is it him?' Liam's heart lurched.
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