Chapter 2: The Third Magic Hero

Seeing these attributes, Li Bin suddenly asked, "My little skeleton mage, do you wish to become a hero?"

The skeleton mage immediately lifted his head, his hollow eyes fixed on Li Bin, his pale teeth trembling, but he could not utter a word.

"I know you are the only candidate for a mage under my command. Originally, I wanted you to become the greatest mage in my ranks. But now I need a hero—a strategist who can devise plans for me. So, I require you to make a choice," Li Bin said calmly.

The skeleton mage, however, was far from calm. His entire body quivered, whether from excitement or disappointment, he did not know. At last, he forced himself to settle, and slowly spoke, "Master, everything I have is granted by you. I will develop as you wish."

"No, I do not intend to force you," Li Bin replied quickly. "I need your own choice. Understand, I need a strategist who can offer counsel, not a mere obedient mouthpiece."

Only then did the skeleton mage calmly kneel before Li Bin and answer with certainty, "I am willing to become a magical hero under your command."

Li Bin placed his right hand on the skeleton mage’s shoulder and said gently, "I grant you the power to become a hero, but I withdraw your authority over troops. You shall serve me with your wisdom and magic, and I bestow upon you a new name: Sanai."

With Li Bin’s words, a black mist slowly drifted into Sanai’s body, and Sanai’s attributes swiftly transformed before Li Bin’s eyes.

When Sanai rose from the ground and stood behind Li Bin, his attributes had become:

Sanai, male, skeleton mage, level 3 / level 1 undead hero, magical strategist type, level 2 mage apprentice, relinquished command authority as a mage, now a user of campaign magic and strategist for the player;

Combat attributes: Strength 8, Agility 12, Constitution 10, Intelligence 20, Perception 14, Charisma 13;
Campaign attributes: Attack ~, Defense ~, Knowledge 2, Wisdom 3, Leadership ~;
Special skills: Campaign Deployment—can bestow his campaign attributes and skills upon superiors to influence the course of battle;

Ordinary skills: Basic Tactics, Basic Sorcery, Basic Campaign Magic, Basic Inspiration;
Once Sanai had fully transformed into a magical hero, Li Bin added, "Sanai, since you are unable to recruit any troops, I grant you access to the archives and all research laboratories. When I have my own territory, I’ll build you a mage’s tower. For now, stay by my side as my strategist."

"Yes, master. However, please allow me to attend to my attire. After all, as a hero, it’s quite disgraceful to wear nothing at all," Sanai said with his head bowed.

Li Bin watched Sanai’s bare ribs swaying before him and couldn’t help but smile. He said, "Very well. Take these 1,000 gold coins as my gift for your equipment, though we’ll have to wait until we reach the next city. For now, you need to transcribe your spells into your hero’s spellbook."

Sanai paused, nodded, and followed the ghostly slave back to the hero’s mansion that had just been arranged for him.

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With Sanai, the magical hero, as his campaign strategist, Li Bin was eager to find some enemies to test his skills. Yet for reasons unknown, from the moment he left the valley until he reached the nearest small village, he saw not a single enemy, not even the usual bands of wandering NPC monsters.

Outside this village, called Hooffoot Village, Li Bin saw from afar some eighty or ninety players tightly surrounding the village’s town hall.

Curious, Li Bin dismounted from the Graveyard Demon and strode into the village. Before he could find a player and inquire about the situation, a gray centaur warrior called out to him, "Hey, undead player, are you here for the quest?"

Li Bin looked around, saw no other undead players, and pointed to himself. "Are you talking to me?"

"Of course! Who else but you would be an undead player here?" the centaur warrior shouted.

"But I’ve played Judgment Time for quite a while now, and I've never heard of you directly offering quests," Li Bin said with a wry smile.

"Who’s directly offering quests? I just noticed you arrived and didn't want you to miss the chance for a quest. Listen, I have a direct route into the town hall for quest-taking—only 500 gold coins..."

Li Bin quickly realized he had encountered a game-world NPC scalper. Seeing the crowd outside the town hall, he didn’t want to squeeze in with them, so he asked, "I need to know what the quest is, at least what rewards I can get. If I spend money to go inside and there’s nothing worthwhile, it’d be money wasted, wouldn’t it?"

"You’re right," the centaur replied. "In fact, this quest is a real gem. Let me tell you a secret." The centaur glanced around, then whispered mysteriously, "Near our village, someone discovered the tomb of a high-level mage. Legend says there’s a magic staff and spellbook inside."

Hearing of a high-level mage’s staff and spellbook, Li Bin immediately understood why so many players had gathered here. In the Bloodthirsty Wasteland, a land ruled by barbarians, even the smallest magical artifact was as precious as a divine relic. Naturally, such treasures would attract a crowd.

Li Bin asked calmly, "Do you know what the quest is? How are the spoils divided?"

"Of course," the centaur said. "I heard the tomb was discovered by a player, but he failed to break in. He lost both squads of level 6 troops he brought with him."

"There are powerful guards outside the tomb?" Li Bin quickly guessed the reason for the gathering.

"Exactly. I heard it’s a nest of harpies. The strongest harpy queen is about level 6, and even the weakest harpy witch is level 3. There are so many that if you engage even a portion, you’re immediately attacked by the whole lot."

Just as Li Bin was about to offer his opinion, Sanai’s mental wave reached him, "Master, I suspect the village chief intends for players to form groups to distract the harpies, while he or his elite troops slip into the tomb for the real treasure. If you accept the quest as cannon fodder, you may lose more than you gain."

After hearing Sanai’s analysis, Li Bin spoke to the centaur warrior, "I am interested in this quest, but I do not intend to be cannon fodder. How do you suggest we proceed?"

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