Leoric, though not inexperienced in traveling afar, had always done so by car, train, or airplane. Trekking across a desert on a camel was indeed a first for him, in both this life and any past ones. Honestly, facing the vast, boundless sandy sea before him, he felt a twinge of fear. But since he was already committed, he had to push forward with grit.

  The sun was blazing, making him dizzy. As far as his eyes could see, there was only yellow sand, no place to take shelter or rest. Fortunately, he had brought enough water, enough to last him ten days or even half a month.

  Brennus had given him a map that depicted the entire continent of Faer?n.Leoric studied it for a long time and found that the best route from Spiritshade City to Baldur's Gate was through the Black Road, crossing the Enoch Desert, then the Lonely Moor, over the Grey Peaks, and passing through towns like Loch, Waterdeep, and Westcomb before reaching the Trade Way. The Trade Way was the main commercial route between Waterdeep and Baldur's Gate, bustling with caravans and travelers.

  However, it was strange. Although the map indicated that the Black Road was passable, it also had small print next to it: "Thalanthir Guild, Bedine Tribes," accompanied by a small crossed swords symbol.

  Leoric had never heard of the Thalanthir Guild or the Bedine Tribes. The Wizard's Academy didn't teach much about the Material Plane. The former sounded like an organization, the latter like a tribe. But what did they mean by writing this next to the Black Road, with a swords symbol? Could it be that the Black Road was controlled by them, and travelers had to pay a toll?

  Riding a camel was very uncomfortable forLeoric, who decided to sell it upon reaching the first town and hire a cart instead. As for travel expenses, he didn't need to worry. He had just roughly checked his packs and found one filled with heavy gold coins.

  Leoric was accustomed to Spiritshade City and didn't know the prices in the Material Plane. But with at least two or three hundred gold coins in that bag, it was undoubtedly a huge amount of money, no matter how you calculated it.

  Regardless, Spiritshade City seemed generous in allocating funds.

  Assailed by wind and sand, and battered by the intense sun,Leoric was dizzy and couldn't focus on examining the rest of his belongings. When the sun set, he found a seemingly safe and sheltered spot, hastily took out his portable tent from his pack, set it up, and inside.

  His clothes were soaked in sweat, and he couldn't bathe, feeling sticky and extremely uncomfortable. ButLeoric couldn't care about that; he was too tired and fell asleep immediately, without even bothering to meditate. When he woke up, the moon was high in the sky.

  Deserts are strange places with extreme temperature differences between day and night. It was scorching hot during the day but freezing cold at night.Leoric wrapped his wizard's robe tighter and began to calmly ponder everything that had happened over the past few days.

  He felt that something was off.

  Of course, he couldn't pinpoint what exactly was wrong; it was just a feeling. Everything seemed to happen logically and smoothly—but perhaps too smoothly, as if someone was manipulating things behind the scenes.

  However, this was just a guess.

  Leoric shook his head and started examining the small blue pouch Brennus had given him.

  Brennus had handed it to him and told him to leave immediately.Leoric hadn't had time to look at it closely and stuffed it into his chest. It was too hot to think about it during the journey. Now that he had woken up, he finally remembered and quickly took it out.

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  From the outside, it was just a small, unremarkable pouch. But whenLeoric untied the rope securing the opening and peered inside, he knew it was anything but simple.

  The pouch contained an abyssal void.

  Leoric's heart pounded. He knew what Brennus had given him.

  A Bag of Holding.

  A Bag of Holding is a magical item essentially a tiny, portable demiplane where one can store items. Putting something inside is like putting it in an invisible safe that follows you wherever you go and never gets lost. For wizards, who can't carry much physically but often need to bring a lot of things when traveling, a Bag of Holding is very practical.

  Only highly accomplished wizards in the School of Conjuration can create a Bag of Holding.

  Leoric stuck his hand into the Bag of Holding and felt around. It was amazing; as if his hand suddenly had vision, the images of all the items inside instantly appeared in his mind. He saw a silver-white ring, an emerald-green brooch, several bottles of magical potions, and a small shield.

  Odd.

  Rings and brooches are common items for wizards, and magical potions are even less surprising. But why give him a shield?

  Of course, there's no law preventing wizards from carrying shields. But magic is a delicate art, and carrying a shield can hinder a wizard's movements, compromising the accuracy of spellcasting. So generally, wizards prefer not to carry shields.

  Leoric was somewhat puzzled but knew there must be a reason. He reached in and grabbed the shield, examining it closely.

  The shield was small, triangular, pointed at the bottom and wide at the top, with a smooth surface without any decorations. The material was somewhat strange; it wasn't metal but resembled some animal's scales. It felt smooth and cold to the touch, and under the moonlight, the surface of the shield faintly glowed with a rainbow hue.

  Leoric had a hunch about the shield's origin.

  When Spiritshade City was still in the Shadowfell, an iridescent dragon had boldly intruded, attempting to steal the floating ship of the ruler of Spiritshade City. Naturally, the dragon failed and paid a price.

  For the graduation exam at the Wizard's Academy, the prize for first place was an iridescent ring made from the dragon's blood.Leoric had witnessed a glimpse of its power, killing a strong minotaur warrior effortlessly. It was indeed a top-tier magical item. Unfortunately,Leoric had failed to win it and felt quite regretful.

  But now, it seemed he hadn't lost out. Although he hadn't entered the Arcanist's Academy, by taking this errand, Prince Brennus had generously rewarded him with another "iridescent dragon" item. If he guessed correctly, this small shield should be made from the scales of that unlucky iridescent dragon.

  Dragons are the most powerful creatures in the world, and iridescent dragons are among the best. A shield made from an iridescent dragon's scales must be a first-rate magical item, probably worth more than the iridescent ring.

  This was odd... Was it necessary to give such a valuable item for just a simple errand? Moreover,Leoric was a wizard; no matter how good the shield was, it wasn't very practical for him.

  Leoric furrowed his brow; he was increasingly suspicious that this delivery mission was not as simple as it seemed.

  He set the shield aside and took out the silver-white ring from the Bag of Holding.

  The ring was made of some silver-white metal thatLeoric didn't recognize, overly intricate with tiny engravings covering it. It had a small blue diamond-shaped gem embedded, and otherwise seemed unremarkable.

  He turned the ring over in his palm, trying to find any clues, and finally noticed some strange characters inscribed on the inside, resembling some kind of language.

  Spiritshade City was an inheritance of the Netherese Empire, and its residents naturally used the Netherese language daily. After entering the Wizard's Academy,Leoric learned Draconic. Besides that, he didn't understand languages like Elven, Dwarven, or Abyssal. So he wasn't very concerned about the unfamiliar characters and was about to put the ring away to examine the next item.

  Wait!

  Leoric suddenly remembered something very important. He was on a mission to deliver a letter. The journey was long, estimated to take at least three to five months even at the fastest pace, passing through many towns. This posed a significant problem: he didn't understand the languages spoken by people outside Spiritshade City.

  He had studied history and knew that after the fall of the Netherese Empire, the Netherese language had mostly disappeared in the Material Plane. Nowadays, humans in the Material Plane mostly used "Common," an evolved form of another ancient language with simple grammatical rules, making it widespread across the continent. Many countries and city-states had officially adopted it, similar to "English" on Earth, but even more ubiquitous. One could travel anywhere as long as they spoke "Common."

  But the problem was,Leoric had never learned Common. How was he going to communicate with others?