"The players have already begun expanding outward..."
"Traces of players have shown up not only in Dragon Valley and Northwind Keep, but even in southern cities like the City of Catis and Kriburg."
"Truly impressive..."
Cassius browsed the player forum and Langpu's magic mirror, musing inwardly.
Indeed, aside from Langlibaitiao, quite a few players had already left the City of Baator and ventured into uncharted territory.
This was by no means an easy feat. First, they had to break through layer upon layer of monster blockades around the perimeter of the Storm Heights. Apart from the Cinder Nest, there were scattered rebellious tribes of frost giants, hill giants, and orcs. Though pushed to the fringes of the heights, they still retained a good deal of strength.
Moreover, these far-traveling players couldn't afford to die easily. Once dead, all their hard work was undone, sending them right back to the City of Baator.
"Hmm? What's that sound?"
Cassius's frilled, lively dragon ears twitched and swiveled as they tracked the noise—a red dragon's hearing was far keener than a human's, possessing the ability to discern significant sounds, filter out background noise, and focus on anything noteworthy.
*Chime—*
A soft chime rang out from a corner of the cavern.
There, the Arcane Hermitage Medallion was shimmering with mana radiance, casting up a magical projection.
"The Anzeta Chapter cordially invites you to join us!"
"Gathering Time: In three days"
"Location: Stravburg"
"Teleportation Coordinates: 1345.8375.527"
The Arcane Hermitage was a wizard organization renowned throughout history, founded by the famed legendary archmage Trafalanlo.
Members met periodically to share magical knowledge, exchange research results, and sometimes seek aid to eradicate evil. This gathering appeared to be the very first meeting of the Arcane Hermitage's Anzeta Chapter.
"Quite a few prominent figures from Anzeta will be attending this chapter meeting."
"I have to go check out the excitement—"
With that thought, Cassius called through the magic mirror.
"Langpu, come here immediately."
Langpu's ugly visage surfaced on the projection, though at the moment, he seemed obsessively counting his gold coins. It appeared the greed inherent to red dragon blood had deeply affected him as well.
"One hundred one, one hundred two, one hundred three..."
The gold coins dropped one after another, clinking crisply.
Only when he heard Cassius's impatient second summons did he snap back to his senses, flustered.
"Ah, apologies, Master! I'll be right there."
Before long, Langpu came wobbling down from the sky, landing before Cassius with a booming thud.
The ogre mage grumbled, "Master, those 'Starfallen' you brought in are far too easy to fleece. I price my spell scrolls at three to four times the market rate, and they still scramble to buy them from me. It's just a shame these fellows are dirt-poor without two coins to rub together. If everyone were this foolish, I wouldn't even need to rob adventurers anymore."
"Master, do you think I should raise the prices even higher to make more gold for you...?"
Cassius snorted a puff of white smoke from his nostrils. "Langpu, you must understand the concept of casting a long line to catch a big fish. Don't drain the pond to catch the fish."
"The prices of our goods should adapt as their spending power rises. Send people to periodically inspect their assets, and keep the prices calibrated so that their pockets are just emptied without driving them into starvation. Isn't that enough?"
Langpu pondered this for a moment, then clapped his hands in delight. "Master, your wisdom fills me with admiration! I'll have my subordinates make the preparations right away."
Cassius nodded in satisfaction.
Langpu was truly getting the hang of exploiting the players. How gratifying.
"However, I didn't summon you here to talk about the Starfallen."
"Come, take a look at this—"
Langpu looked toward the corner of the cavern and saw the translucent magical projection.
"The Arcane Hermitage?"
"That's right. Care to go see it for yourself?" Cassius smiled.
A trace of nostalgia and relief immediately surfaced on Langpu's hideous, ferocious face.
"Of course, Master..."
Previously, he had been ignorant and muddle-headed, not understanding what had happened, only feeling that he had mysteriously grown smarter.
Now, as the head steward of the Cinder Nest holding a high position for years, and having dedicated years to delving into the arcane arts with a wizard tower of his own, Langpu had long since grasped what had taken place back then. He was even capable of further modifying that Circlet of Intellect Study.
It was as though the god of destiny had deliberately orchestrated it all.
If that brash, hotheaded apprentice wizard hadn't traveled abroad, and if he hadn't knocked him unconscious with a club and devoured him, the current Langpu might still be nothing more than an aimless, dim-witted, mediocre ogre.
—Just like all ogres, thinking of nothing but eating and sleeping. Such an ogre would never have been qualified to become part of the red dragon's 'grand blueprint.'
And it was that very experience that had altered his life—or rather, his ogre life.
"Polymorph!"
The massive red dragon once again transformed into a noble young man with black hair and golden eyes, though this time he displayed no draconic features.
"Still a bit constricting."
Feeling the immense power within his body bound by the humanoid form, Cassius rolled his wrists.
He looked at Langpu's enormous body, his brow knitting slightly. "The Arcane Hermitage ought to be a gathering of the good alignment. In your current form, I'm afraid you can hardly show your face..."
"Yes, Master."
Langpu hurriedly waved his staff, tapping into the Weave to construct the spell model and transform into a human.
"Polymorph!"
Except the resulting human stood over two meters tall, corpulent and burly, smothered in flab, with a puffy face that was an absolute eyesore. He looked like nothing so much as an ogre draped in human skin—which was, in fact, exactly what he was.
"Master, is this acceptable?"
Cassius stared at Langpu, utterly speechless.
"Can you tweak it a bit...? That doesn't look like a normal human at all."
"I'd almost rather just bring an ogre along."
But Cassius had forgotten: the ogre was not a sorcerer—an 'artist' who cast spells by instinct and intuition—but a wizard, who required rigorous structural modeling.
Langpu scratched his head in embarrassment. "Apologies, Master. My spell model parameters weren't properly calibrated. It might take... er, seven or eight days to refine them slowly."
"Seven or eight days?"
"The Arcane Hermitage gathering will be over by then."
"How about this..."
Cassius thought for a moment.
"Turn into an iron golem instead. It'll look slightly more normal. For a noble spellcaster to have a construct bodyguard shouldn't raise any eyebrows."
"Yes, Master."
Langpu cast Polymorph once again. This time, nothing went awry, and he smoothly transformed into a three-meter-tall colossus forged entirely of iron.
Though its appearance remained unsightly, at least no one would suspect it of being some chaotic evil creature.
"Fetch me a cloak."
Langpu fished a long cloak enchanted with Anti-Scrying magic from his collection and draped it over Cassius.
Cassius toyed with the mithril necklace in his hand, tracing the door-shaped pendant set upon it.
"Dimension Door."
With the coordinates confirmed, space gradually warped, and a rift opened before Cassius.
Chapter 81