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 A few days had passed. After cashing the banknote and opening an account in the local bank, Argrave stayed at a fairly expensive inn in Mateth that valued order and cleanliness—virtues he found it difficult to live without, especially given the strenuous circumstances he had been through in the past few days. It was easy to overcome his mysophobia when faced with the very unappealing prospect of being held hostage in opposition to King Felipe III, but now that the danger had passed, he cleaned himself up.
 Margrave Reinhardt would not waste the time to send men to find Argrave, he knew. Getting to his brother Bruno was far more important to the Margrave than securing a hostage. Argrave did not fear retribution overmuch. His relationship with the Parbons could never be repaired, though. An unfortunate happening, but it was unavoidable.
 He had changed his well-to-do aristocratic clothes for firmer leather clothing—a shirt, boots, gloves, et cetera. Waiting for them to be custom fitted to his considerable height had been the only thing delaying his departure, in truth. It was vaguely armored, but Argrave did not trust his weak body to support full leather armor.
 Once they were made, he left expediently from Mateth’s western gate, following the road along the coastline for a time. He watched the ships coming and going from the docks in Mateth. Some things remained unchanged. The smell of the salt brought back memories of Earth. There was the unfamiliar, too—the smell of an otherworldly city, the sound of the people and carriages moving on the road, a caravel sailing the open sea, the pounding of a blacksmith’s hammer from behind the city’s stark white walls…
 Argrave sighed in wistful homesickness, and then walked towards his destination. He strayed from the roads, walking across the plains leisurely. Despite his blustering to Robarr, there would be no bandits or foul beasts so close to the city, and his destination was not far.
 He walked across the plains until he began to see stumps left by lumberjacks, and then he walked beyond those until he entered the forest untouched by civilization. The trees were tall here, ancient, and their leaves so dense not a speck of the dying sunlight made it through. It was not long before his only company was the animals and his thoughts.
 Argrave was certain he was on the right track when he noticed the trees changing. Their bark became darker, as though winter emanated from deeper in the forest. The leaves went from bright green to a deep, rich color. The air itself seemed to change color.
 “Rather ominous in person,” Argrave commented to no one in particular.
 He stopped at a particularly tall and thick tree, likely the oldest in the forest. He stared at it for a time, brows furrowed, but eventually moved around to the back. He nodded when he found what he was looking for.
 A set of stairs had been carved into the roots of the old tree. It led up to a hollow portion in the base of the trunk that seemed to have been chiseled away in an age long since passed. Mushrooms grew at points, like shelves in the alcove. The carved hollow housed a stone shrine. It was but a table, a tablet, a quill made of stone, and a statue. The years had covered the stone with moss, giving much of the gray stone a greenish hue.
 The statue was a grotesque thing. It depicted a malformed lump of meat vaguely resembling a head with a mouth possessing far too many teeth. It had two eyes but they were not in alignment, as though its face was melting and drooping away. Argrave kneeled down before the shrine.
 Argrave picked up the stone quill and the tablet. He wrote on the tablet, ‘I seek wisdom beyond my years.’ It left no marks, but he was not surprised by this fact. He set the two items down, moved back a few feet, and waited contentedly.
 The mouth of the statue split open, its stone teeth retracting back into its mock-gums. It widened further and further, acting more as flesh than stone. Then, a reddish, mercury-like portal spread out in the mouth from its throat. An arm emerged, skinny and long, and kept emerging; it could not be any shorter than ten feet. Then a stubby arm pushed its way out, grasping onto the statue, and the thing began to pull itself from the statue.
 The emissary started to reveal itself in earnest. It was anthropomorphic, yet all of its limbs were strangely proportioned and its skin resembled exposed flesh after being flayed. Its eyes bulged in and out of the socket in rhythm with its breathing.
 The dread emissary looked about the forest, not displaying any hostility. It stood awkwardly on one foot and its long arm because one of its legs was far too short. The emissary opened its mouth, revealing a set of pearly whites so straight they looked fake.
 “This shrine amongst the ancient trees still sees worshippers? We had no idea.” The voice was very ordinary, entirely unbefitting of the creature itself.
 “I suspect I am the first to come in many years,” Argrave answered calmly.
 “We know,” the creature said passively. “And why have you come?”
 “Why do people generally contact a god of knowledge?” Argrave stared the emissary of Erlebnis in its eyes without blinking.
 Any single emissary of Erlebnis, the God of Knowledge, was capable of killing Argrave. Those elongated or stunted limbs were ineffectual, sure enough; however, the servants of Erlebnis knew magic far beyond what any order of mages might teach. Argrave recalled innumerable days playing ‘Heroes of Berendar’ where he had attempted to kill one of Erlebnis’ emissaries for fun, only to be utterly pulped by ridiculous spells.
 That said, Argrave was perfectly safe now. He could sleep in the strange creature’s revolting arms and no harm would come to him. Such a situation was unlikely to happen, naturally, but the point stood. The emissaries only defended themselves from attack. They were neutral beings because they were fundamentally merchants. They only bartered, and their only good was knowledge. Harming customers was bad for business.
 “You come seeking knowledge,” the emissary nodded. “Like so many before you.”
 “Not true.” Argrave held a gloved finger up and shook it. “I come offering knowledge, in return for a blessing from Erlebnis.”
 “Then you have wasted our time,” the emissary said levelly. “No knowledge possessed by one as young as you would be worth a blessing from our lord Erlebnis.”
 “I know the location of Oril Valar, and the Viirtulfyr that he stole from your lord.”
 After Argrave’s words finished, all sounds died. The wind, the swaying of the trees, the bugs and the birds, suddenly ceased to make any noise at all. Argrave could no longer hear even the subtle sounds made by his leather clothes as he moved. He felt his heart speed faster, but he could not hear it. Even if Argrave knew he was safe, it was difficult to stop the natural reaction to abrupt stimuli. The emissary spoke, and Argrave heard only its voice.
 “Even mentioning Oril Valar, you have drawn the eye of our lord Erlebnis.” The emissary did not display any of its emotion on its voice—it might as well have been talking about the weather. Perhaps it had no emotions to display.
 “That was my intention,” Argrave responded, fortunately able to hear his own voice in this strange silence.
 The emissary’s eyes withdrew back into its head, leaving behind the same reddish-mercury portal from which the creature had originally emerged from. Argrave waited patiently, expecting this might happen—the emissary had returned to receive Erlebnis’ will.
 In simpler terms, he was talking to his boss.
 Argrave used the time to calm his beating heart. Communing with ancient gods often was not particularly good on the health. Fortunately, this information was the only thing that he could currently offer Erlebnis, a God of Knowledge. If he wanted further rewards, doubtless he would need to become inextricably bound to Erlebnis.
 Conveying this knowledge to Erlebnis had been a secret quest in ‘Heroes of Berendar.’ If one found out about the Viirtulfyr, one could offer that knowledge to Erlebnis. More simply, one could return the book directly. Hoarding this knowledge was useless to Argrave, as the Viirtulfyr only contained top-level spells beyond his ken that he had no ability to retrieve, at present.
 Argrave was confident in this trade. Further trades, though—forget it. Beyond the very high possibility of early-onset baldness from stress, he was tampering with a power that could very well lead to his insanity. A god was, fundamentally, impossible to understand. Ancient gods were further insidious and manipulative. He did not have the hubris the Greeks so loathed—Argrave knew his limits as a mortal and he was not certain he could continue to meddle without losing his mind.
 Only one of the emissary’s eyes returned, refocusing on Argrave. “Our lord is watching this conversation through my eye, Argrave. He will be very displeased if you are toying with us.” Argrave could not help but shudder—he had not mentioned his name, yet the emissary knew. Perhaps he should not be surprised.
 “The master is interested in this deal,” the emissary continued. “You would be willing to submit to a spell to determine the veracity of your words?”
 Argrave considered the question, ensuring there were no loopholes in its phrasing. “As long as the spell only discerns truth from falsehood, that condition is amenable.”
 “Cautious one. A valuable trait. And you asked for a blessing in return?”
 Argrave nodded. “A specific blessing from your lord; the Blessing of Supersession, and it should be of the highest quality.”
 The Blessing of Supersession would be an invaluable acquisition for Argrave on his path as a mage. It would allow him to connect his pool of magic to Erlebnis, an ancient god, for a period of five minutes. In effect, he would be granted unlimited magic during its duration—every emissary of Erlebnis had this ability, and it was precisely why they were such potent spellcasters. He would still be limited to whatever rank of magic he knew, naturally.
 For Argrave, who intended to primarily use the very costly electric magic, it was invaluable. The blessing had its drawbacks—he was borrowing the magic, and he could not use the ability again until he had paid back his magic ‘debt.’ Ordinarily, one could not even use magic until they paid the debt back. The highest-quality Blessing of Supersession Argrave asked for removed that condition—one paid back the magic debt at their leisure and remained capable of using their own pool of magic without issue.
 After Argrave had stated his request, the emissary turned its eye to look at the portal where its other eye once had been, communing with Erlebnis in total silence. Its gaze refocused on Argrave after some time had passed.
 “You ask a very high price,” the emissary said slowly. “Even amongst our lord’s direct mortal servants, few possess a blessing of that sort.”
 “I ask for a high price because I know the value of my knowledge.” Argrave shrugged. “The grudge your lord bears against Oril Valar is deep, and I know well the value of Viirtulfyr. If I could retrieve it myself, I might. Alas, Oril Valar is a very powerful person, and not someone a humble mortal like me can meddle with.”
 “We see.” The emissary once more looked to the portal in its vacant eye socket, and Argrave waited longer. “The lord tells us that He can agree to provide a Blessing of Supersession of the highest quality, under the condition you answer three questions under a spell that differentiates truth from falsehood. In addition, the information contained in these questions must first be proven accurate by His emissaries. Simply put, we would retrieve the Viirtulfyr before you receive the blessing.”
 Argrave hesitantly nodded at the conditions, but he was not entirely content. “Tell me the questions, first.”
 The emissary raised its long arm, holding its hand close to its face as it counted down. “First, the location of Oril Valar in detail. Second, the location of Viirtulfyr in detail. Third, how you came to possess this knowledge.”
 Hesitation crept in at the third question. If Argrave admitted where he originally came from even indirectly, Erlebnis might take an unwanted interest in him.
 “Is the third question necessary?”
 “If you wish for the highest quality blessing,” the emissary answered quickly, almost anticipating his words.
 Argrave clasped his hands together, staring at the gloves as he rubbed his thumb against his palm. He wanted the highest-level blessing—an inability to use magic after its use would be very annoying.
 “If you do not ask for details on the third question… I agree to those three questions only.”
 The emissary bowed its head lightly. “So it shall be. Then, we shall cast the spell.”
 Argrave gestured for the emissary to proceed. It held its hand out, and a red line of light shot towards his heart like the bite of a snake. Argrave did not resist, and he felt the oddity of another’s magic for the first time in his life.
 The emissary’s one eye stayed fixed on Argrave’s face. “What is the precise location of the spellcaster Oril Valar, who wronged our lord Erlebnis and stole the Viirtulfyr?” the emissary spoke, enunciating every word clearly.
 “Oril Valar inhabits an island known to locals as ‘Black Isle’ off the coast of the northern point of the continent of Berendar, near the town of Kumdan. The island is host to a volcano which Oril Valar has tampered with, making it shroud the island in ash. Oril Valar has a castle on the northern side of the island, concealed by illusion magic. He rarely leaves the castle, and even less so the island.”
 Argrave held back no details, even giving more information than the spell would probably compel. The earlier they recovered the Viirtulfyr, the earlier he got his blessing.
 The emissary carried on without missing a beat. “Where is Viirtulfyr, the book stolen by the spellcaster Oril Valar?”
 “Oril Valar keeps the book close. It is in the same fortress in which he currently resides. It is likely still in the third floor down, in the library at the end of the hall on the right.”
 “How did you come to possess this knowledge regarding Oril Valar and the Viirtulfyr?”
 “I confirmed it personally,” Argrave said slowly. And it was true—he had gone there multiple times with each character from ‘Heroes of Berendar.’ He was the primary contributor to Oril Valar’s wiki article.
 The emissary said nothing for a time, staring at Argrave. The red light persisted—Argrave was worried the spell might react.
 “Well? It is the truth, no?” Argrave remained stone-faced. If he had been lying, the red light would have broken.
 The emissary snapped, and the red light retreated. “Indeed it is, mortal. Or at the very least, your mind and body believe it is the truth. We will confirm the value of your truth in the days to come.”
 The sounds of the forest returned as suddenly as they had left—it was a little like one’s ears popping from a change in altitude. The other eye of the emissary emerged from the portal resembling red mercury.
 “Our business is concluded, then.” Argrave nodded. “I presume you will give me a token that will notify me when you are ready to offer payment?”
 “Most curious. You almost lead us to believe you have done business of this nature with our lord before. Perhaps an ancestor of yours provided you some knowledge… yet even still, that does not explain how you confirmed the presence of the Viirtulfyr and Oril Valar personally...” the emissary produced a red disk in its hands, seemingly from the air.
 “Here. Keep this on your person and you will know when we are ready to receive you. If you have somehow tricked us… Oril Valar is the only being currently in this realm who has done such a thing. And if your information is correct, that will be rectified.”
 Argrave took the red disk. It had no markings and looked to be made of simple stone painted red. “I look forward to receiving the blessing, then.”
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 The royal bastard of House Vasquer, Argrave, changed after his stay studying magic at the Tower of the Gray Owl. The sickly man's awkward posture and cruel behavior have been replaced with a neat dignity and acerbic wit. Though once listless, he now strives towards his goals with a life-or-death tenacity. Most come away thinking he seems to know too many details about too much. Few can claim to know his motives or his goals.
 Yet behind that confident appearance, the primary contributor for an open-world RPG's wiki battles existential dread and things far beyond his ken as he struggles to adapt to a grim, gothic fantasy world mirroring his favorite game. The prospect of fighting against a world-ending calamity loses all of its appeal when it transitions from entertainment to reality. Argrave is spurred towards unwanted heroism to preserve his life as he struggles desperately to keep this sinking ship afloat.
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 September 1, 2029 in the Gregorian calendar!
 
 The global epoch-making online game “New Century” developed by the United Nations shocked the public beta, with a virtual reality level of 99%. The opening of the exchange of virtual currency and real currency has attracted countless players from all over the world.
 
 Soon players discovered that their abilities in online games can be synchronized with the real world!
 
 Since then!
 
 Mankind has entered an era where all people rely on “New Era” for cultivation!
 
 Ten years ago when Ye Xuan was born again, on the day of the “New Era” public beta, the burst rate system was activated, and the burst rate has been 9999+ since then.
 
 When ordinary players are still pointing out that the explosion rate of the Maitai game is too low, Ye Xuan has already installed it in his hands, and there are as many dark gold outfits as*!
 
 Most importantly, Ye Xuan also knew a big secret in advance:
 
 Half a year later, online monsters will emerge from the top of Everest, sweeping the earth, and humanity is at stake…
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 Traveling through the fantasy world, he became the descendant of an immortal family in the fairyland. He was born with a chaotic body, and was accompanied by an immortal bone and a Hongmeng Seal. Starting from the chaotic body, you will be invincible all the way. There are thousands of talented people in the world, but they have to lower their eyebrows when they see me. (The geniuses compete for hegemony, crushing the invincible stream) I still don’t know how to write an introduction, so I’ll just leave it like this for now, and please collect the new book.
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 The era of catastrophe has arrived.
 Everyone gets a special status: demon or hunter.
 Demons don't die!
 Not only does it have an infinite lifespan, but it can also be resurrected after death.
 As for hunters, they need to form a group to go to the devil's lair and hunt down the devil before they can be completely killed...
 Lin Xuan, an ordinary college student.
 Get the sss-level devil talent at the beginning and evolve into a devil!
 Since then...
 A hunter's nightmare is born!
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 The treacherous world of immortals and heroes in Boyun, the eternal grudges of the three mysterious demon clans, and what secrets are hidden in the ancient catastrophe? 
 The confrontation between the emerging revolutionaries and the conservative forces, the change of order and laws, where will all living beings go? 
 Heroes are vying for hegemony, princes are separatist, and heroes are rising together. What kind of sparks will burst out in the intertwining of power and might? 
 Please watch. 
 Tian Yuan Xian Ji.
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 The most important duty of a Taoist priest is getting rid of monsters and exorcising ghosts, raising his temple’s reputation! Though, well, Xie Lingya is not a Taoist priest, he just has the Immortal Roots…
 *
 Some people can learn in a day what takes others ten years of hard work. Xie Lingya is like this – other people have to cleanse themselves and meditate to draw talismans, he can do it as easy as drinking a glass of water. Unfortunately, in this era, graduating from a renowned university is much more valuable than the talent for cultivation. He who has the Immortal Roots finally chose to study finance.
 However, the world is unpredictable. His uncle, a Taoist priest, died unexpectedly, leaving his temple to Xie Lingya. His last wish was for his nephew to find the right person to inherit his sect’s teachings.
 So Xie Lingya, who had no intentions to become a Taoist, ended up as… the owner of a Taoist temple. He began to earnestly manage the deserted little place, striving to gain believers. He also struggled to recruit priests, in hope of finding a suitable successor for his uncle. After a chance encounter, his target became Shi Changxuan, who came from an influential Taoist family and had outstanding skills. Not scared off by the man’s aloof personality, he struck up a conversation and tried to get his phone number. He didn’t realize this move could be easily misunderstood…
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 [Mystery colleagues] Wangqing Taoist: Are you a mystery fellow again? I want to see the protagonist play with Xiaoke, such as telling Xiaoke that I believe in Yuanshi Tianzun~
 Jiu Xuanzun: You can add tags to give Xifa more help from higher personalities, such as mother goddess, cassava and so on.
 Withering &amp; Star Mark: I want to see the witch! ! !
 bstbb: It suddenly occurred to me that in the field of war, the protagonist will become a god in the future, then wouldn’t he have a title of “Lord of Hosts”?
 Looking at the comments of these readers on the “Book of Mystery”, Xifa has only one idea: the author, you must not be an eunuch!
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 Qu Mao, who hadn’t had time to cut his sister out of class and experience the degenerate university life, woke up and found that he had come to a strange and cruel new world, and it seemed that young people from all over the world came to this world together… 
 The world channel was full of shouts and curses. Except for a tattered lord’s order, everyone didn’t even have a whiteboard novice weapon at the beginning… 
 But Qu Mao is not worried or in a hurry, because he has a cheating system with him, and he just wants to save some cheating points. With cheating points, he has everything. 
 Who would want to cheat if they could win by cheating?
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 Su Cha transmigrated to a fantasy world, inherited a tavern, and activated a system! First mission completed — renovate the taverns — Lafite red wine formula rewarded, hundred times speed up in the wind cellular! Second mission completed — served a hundred customers and received good reviews — Budweiser beer formula rewarded! The third mission, fourth mission…… As the tavern expanded rapidly, not only did our MC bring in fine wine, he also brought in all kinds of cultural influences from the modern era. This alternate world was starting to turn a little strange. Inside the tavern, the elegant elf queen fell in love with rock music, she picked up an electric guitar and started screaming and howling. The orcs, the knight, and the sorcerer sat down at the table and started a round of Texas poker, soon getting all worked up against each other. A famous wizard raised up his Budweiser beer and muttered, “Don’t ask how much I can drink, all I want is another gin!” …
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 A modern youth crossed over to a chaotic world of immortals and martial arts. Starting as a humble mountain bandit leader, he only had a loli (young girl), a cold-faced elder sister, three illiterate bandit subordinates, and a small yellow dog by his side.
 Other bandits fiercely besieged them, while the government's constables blocked their path, leaving them unable to descend the mountain and collectively unemployed and hungry. He felt like life had hit rock bottom!
 However, he stumbled upon a well that allowed him to share and absorb others' martial arts and profound techniques without the need for arduous cultivation. There were no bottlenecks in his cultivation, and each of his techniques became extraordinary.
 Thus, he decided to try changing his life, like wiping out a bandit lair with his subordinates, kidnapping a governor's daughter, or beating up a constable and so on. Life suddenly became quite interesting.
 But when he left the mountains, he unexpectedly discovered the existence of gods, immortals, and sects.
 He realized that he could continue to seize power endlessly.
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 In his previous life, he was cheated of fortune and killed, and Zhuang Yi didn’t realize that he was not a waste until his death. 
 He is a descendant of the once brilliant Summoner family, but he has never been awakened, and he has no chance to become stronger again. 
 After rebirth and returning to the age of 16, the first thing Zhuang Yi did was to take the ancestral exquisite box and try to awaken himself. 
 And take the most important first step of the summoner-summon the natal pet. 
 But how does it seem to be inextricably related to Lei Xiu, the number one master in the mainland? 
 Well, it must be an illusion. 
 Golden Finger Long Story Upgrade, 1vs1, Lei Xiu X Zhuang Yi
 This article level setting:
 Level 1-3 inferior soul masters; Level 4-6 medium soul masters; Level 7 high soul masters; Level 8 King soul masters; Level 9 titled soul masters; 
 Only Lei Xiu has reached level 10, and he has been named the number one powerhouse in the mainland; 
 Among them, there are class distinctions in each level, in order: upper-middle-lower-peak~
 Content Tag: Strong Fantasy Fantasy Continent 
 Search keywords: protagonists: Zhuang Yi, Lei Xiu 
 Supporting roles: Shang Qingyun, Jiang Xuan, Wei Jin, Baihe, Little Squirrel, A, B, C and D 
 Others: rebirth, upgrade, strong
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 This is an interstellar era of giant ships and galaxies.
 Special fire warships can regularly enter different spaces, harvest source points, and strengthen themselves.
 Wang Dong traveled here with an auxiliary system.
 The "scan" function can clearly see the growth qualifications of a warship and select the most perfect ship!
 The "source point acquisition doubling" function can enable the warship to obtain three, five times or even a hundred times the source points of others!
 The "module feature selection" function can make the features that appear randomly become arbitrary!
 See how Wang Dong uses the auxiliary system to swim in this interstellar era.
 Control the most powerful battleship and overcome all dissatisfactions!
 Explore the endless universe and challenge the infinite unknown!
 PS: This book contains too few show-offs and slaps in the face. In the early stage, it is wretched and developed, in the middle stage, it mainly explores, and in the later stage, it is crushed.
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 This book is also known as "All People Traveling Through Time: I Have an Arsenal" 
 [Not an Invincible Story] + [One Female Protagonist or No Female Protagonist] + [Ridiculously Strong Villains] (Don't Enter if You Don't Like It) 
 The world changes suddenly, and billions of people around the world travel to a different world with only cold weapons at the same time. 
 At the beginning, you awaken a divine weapon. How can you survive in this dangerous world? 
 Other people's divine weapons are swords, spears, swords, sticks, axes, hooks and forks... 
 But Nanfeng discovered that his divine weapon is actually an arsenal! 
 Desert Eagle, Barrett, Gatling, rocket launcher... everything is available! 
 When the gods and demons descended and everyone was trembling, Nanfeng stood up with a star destroyer. 
 Nanfeng: "All fears come from insufficient firepower." 
 Nanfeng: "Dear donors, take a shot from your Nan Ye!"
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Jackal Among Snakes

Chapter 10: Early Onset Eldritch-Induced Baldness

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Jackal Among Snakes

Chapter 10: Early Onset Eldritch-Induced Baldness

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