"We would like to ask for your help this time." Priest Joe spoke, but Lynch always thought his voice was a bit strange, somewhat androgynous.
"To be honest, we don’t current slave status." The Halfling next to him interjected, jumping onto the chair, standing there looking at Lynch. "Although we can swagger through the city’s gates, we still can’t leave the city."
"What does this mean? Are you afraid of being hunted by the Dark Elf Family?" Lynch thought for a moment and said, "The environment of the Underdark is extremely complex and vast, how can you possibly escape the pursuit of the Dark Elves?"
"It seems even this guy doesn’t know..." Priest Joe suddenly blurted out.
"Let’s put it this way, aside from those insignificant Kobolds, how many runaway slaves have successfully avoided being hunted?" William tapped his fingers on the table, "None, not a single one. The Dark Elves treat hunting runaway slaves as a form of entertainment, playing this cat-and-mouse game in the Underdark and enjoying it immensely."
"And the key reason is, at the top of the Black Crystal Tower, there’s a Tracking Magic Array. And on those high-level slaves, there are hidden spell effects; they can easily discover the location of escapees and thus commence pursuit."
Lynch frowned but couldn’t help feeling fortunate. This information was too important to him; without these people’s reminder, he might have left the city with the Tracking Array, only to lose his life to a dagger appearing from behind while cheering for freedom.
"Do you know how to destroy that Magic Array?"
"You should ask your Mage, after all, we don’t understand these mysterious things."
Lynch pondered, since that Magic Array is located on the Black Crystal Tower, it is very likely an arcane effect. But on the other hand, the Mage felt very strange. The number of Mages among the Dark Elves is actually very few, how could they use Tracking Magic on so many high-level slaves?
On the contrary, the number of Drow Priests is enormous.
"I will try to investigate that thing, but I think it might be a Divine Magic Array rather than an arcane array. It might be used by Dark Elf Priests instead of Mages. So you guys shouldn’t rely solely on me. The Priests in your team might also have a solution."
"Is that so??" The Priest still had that strange intonation, always with a slight upward inflection at the end of a sentence.
"By the way, Mage, would you be willing to join us?" William suddenly asked, "Our team is still very strong."
"That’s almost impossible..." Lynch replied. Fresh chapters posted on novel[f]ire.net
The warrior named Owen looked down and saw the emblem hanging at Lynch’s waist and asked, "Mage, which family’s slave are you?" His voice sounded deep and muffled through the thick helmet.
"I am currently the Advising Mage for the First Family." Lynch answered truthfully.
The adventurers showed expressions of surprise and worry instantly, becoming very embarrassed. In a Dark Elf city, a family’s advisor holds a status between nobility and slavery, possessing considerable power in some aspects.
"Then... then we won’t disturb your... time." The few people hurriedly bid farewell and left the tavern.
"Sigh..." Lynch sighed. He had long anticipated that such a thing might happen. The identity of an adviser to the Dark Elf Family is both a shield and a shackle, deeply branding "Dark Elf" on you. Even if you’ve done nothing, you are associated with evil because of these words.
This unpleasant parting was also something Lynch had imagined, and he was somewhat mentally prepared. But when this actually happened in front of him, the Mage couldn’t avoid feeling depressed.
"Lynch, weren’t you never going to become a member of any Dark Elf Family? How did it come to this?" Deluo sat across from Lynch, "Didn’t you use magic to blast Zilvra away and ignore those coming to recruit you? Why did you change your mind so quickly?"
"I am still not a member of the Dark Elves, you have to believe me." Lynch knew now that any explanation he gave would just sound like excuses to the warrior across from him.