Chapter 959: Chapter 755: The Preliminary Contract
After Hill buried himself in his study transcribing all the magic books on the seven shelves behind him, the footsteps of spring finally arrived.
The Haber family delayed for a long time, seemingly wanting to see if Hill had any intentions towards their family or was interested in some of their secrets... Although the Haber family never had a legendary mage over level 30, they never lacked archmages over level 20.
Mages certainly rely on talents, but no one believes that a family can always have geniuses... If intelligence could really be inherited so accurately, the world would belong to these mage families... Therefore, many forces in Toril actually want to know what the Haber family relies on.
Unfortunately, Hill had no interest in their little secrets at all... Let’s discuss it when they can consistently produce legendary mages over level 30!
So, with Agleya making no movements at all, the Haber family finally had to honestly visit Lynn again. They didn’t dare to hold a fluke mentality anymore; it seemed their neighbor truly didn’t care.
This time, when Chief Adanko came by carriage, although he was the only one who got off, there was actually a level 20 archmage and two level 17 high-level mages in the carriage.
Sitting in the study silently using the transcription technique, Hill couldn’t help but turn his head to look: Marko actually came himself... Are they planning to burn their bridges?
Hill hesitated a bit and put down his pen: For the Haber family, the importance of Longsaddle Town seemed unimaginably significant... Although Toril people cherish their homes, they are never reluctant when facing crises.
As for the Dusk Tower, with Hill’s research on the gem-inlaid array, this tower can actually be moved short distances.
In other words, Marko actually has a mental preparation for moving...
Hill was silent for a while. Generally speaking, having such a cautious preventative mentality and yet being determined not to abandon it without being forced to can only prove that some research in Longsaddle Town, once failed and exposed, would lead to a catastrophic disaster.
Hill took out the map and studied it carefully for a while: According to normal history, Neverwinter should be destroyed by a volcanic eruption a hundred years later.
So when Hill moved to live near the Undead Swamp, he naturally didn’t want his Agleya City to be destroyed by such events, so he went to observe the Neverwinter Mountain Range where Neverwinter is located... However, it was just an ordinary high mountain with no traces of a volcano.
Hill even went to check the underground status... Although Neverwinter City dug many tunnels, they’re still tens of thousands of kilometers away from the fire in the earth’s veins!
Later, Hill thought it was because the world reorganization this time caused the fire in the earth’s veins to flow over slowly... So once the blue light disappeared, he reobserved it.
As a result, it turned out that there was a small vein of geothermal fire 30,000 meters underground on his side, and Hill had to send it to a deeper place in the ground himself.
Nothing was happening under Neverwinter.
Only then did he realize that natural disasters can be prophesied.
With the prosperity of divination magic in this world, if there really was a surge of geothermal fire, Neverwinter couldn’t have no news at all... At the very least, the royal family of Neverwinter wouldn’t escape being wiped out. However, they were completely annihilated.
This can only be a sudden man-made disaster.
So was the reason why the Dusk Tower was built at the edge of Neverwinter Forest really just because the place was suitable?
Hill silently smiled and decided to fix the underground on the east and north sides of his territory in a couple of days: It’s best to turn everything into fire-resistant materials.
Although Lynn didn’t know Adanko came with backup, he could also feel the determination of this Haber lord.
Moreover, when he went through the list brought by Adanko, he found that on the directory related to underground resources, every resource listed even had its nearby enemies.
The name of the Dilo Dwarves appeared next to many precious minerals: both Blood Glaze and Lapis Crystal Iron, the two rarest materials among lava minerals, were included... Blood Glaze is close to obsidian in appearance, formed by the mixing of magma and dragon crystal deposits, very sharp, but easily shattered by sound waves, often used to make ammunition.
Lapis Crystal Iron, on the other hand, is a natural metal formed in lava. After refining and forging, it appears bluish-white and emits a green shimmer, equally sharp, but capable of resisting sonic waves.
These two minerals are actually controlled by the Dilo Dwarves, who are good at making alchemy items... Dwarven rifles must be their common weapons.
Lynn also saw several rare minerals that would tempt mages, surprisingly also controlled by the Dilo Dwarves... According to Haber’s notes, these minerals are extremely rare in the Underworld too... Even among the dark mages that Lynn knows, several are not much worse than Kelben, but they couldn’t snatch these minerals from the Dilo Dwarves.
There’s even a possibility that these minerals were snatched by the Dilo Dwarves from them...
Lynn silently flipped through those pages at an even pace... Whoever gave this information from the Haber family had ill intentions; they tried to make Agleya believe that the Dilo Dwarves were powerful because their dwarven rifles were particularly formidable.
Although, for them, this information is exactly what they wanted... Finding out where the Dilo Dwarves are was the goal of their long endeavors.
But this does not mean that the actions of the Haber Family are without issues.
Lynn silently flipped to the end, and the Haber Family actually delivered a large amount of specialties from the Abyss and Hell, along with some resources from the Heavenly Mountain.
He couldn’t help but look up at Adanko.
Chief Haber quickly understood Lynn’s meaning and smiled as he spoke, "The things from the Heavenly Mountain, the Haber Family has no need to embarrass themselves in front of that Archmage Hill... if he wants them, he could easily obtain them."
Adanko’s meaningful gaze directly turned towards the northeast side of Agleya City, where the graves of the believers of Tyr and Suren are located.
With the Elven Pantheon along with these two Ferun deities, Hill can indeed get anything he wants.
But this does not imply... that the Haber Family can justifiably use this as an excuse to give less.
Lynn let out a cold laugh, "If you want to keep some spell knowledge, then don’t skimp on the resources... we all know what these magic books you brought mean... at most, you can pay Candlekeep a little less in transcription fees.
Does Agleya really lack that bit of money?"
Adanko quickly pulled out another list from the ring on his finger, "I was being too stingy... the family’s assets are only so much, and using them up all at once in my hands is hard to accept for me... my greed is really regrettable. So, with these included, is that okay?"
After receiving it, Lynn quickly scanned through it, then couldn’t help but glance at this Haber lord. There were Heart-guard Cables from Josse Garden among the materials, a kind of remarkably thin and flexible metal wire that can only be found in the mines deep beneath Josse Garden, a territory belonging to Mystra.
The Haber Family obtaining such material must have been through a transaction with Kelben... it seems Long Saddle Town and Kelben have quite a close relationship, and they exchange even in matters like this.
Adanko’s face showed a smile.
This material is something they deemed Hill certainly wouldn’t have... they have studied this wealthy neighbor for a long time, and the Lord of Agleya indeed has no need for wealth, but for things he does not have, especially resources, even if they have little use, he will still take a look, maybe even try to acquire them.
Lynn, as the most trusted person of the Lord of Agleya, wouldn’t be unaware of this.
For a wealthy Archmage, materials like Josse Garden’s Heart-guard Cable that can enhance both physical defense and magic defense of armor, are indeed not very useful, but it might be the item he’s most interested in among this pile of resources.
For the Toril people, as long as one has the courage, resources from the Abyss and Hell can always be obtained, but materials from Mystra’s Divine Kingdom rarely flow outside.
Even Kelben could only gather this much, and according to Black Staff, Elaströ’s hands wouldn’t have so much Heart-guard Cable from Josse Garden either.
If Hill heard this, he would probably sneer: Elaströ’s son formed a Guard, didn’t he!
Want to guess if their armor used Josse Garden’s Heart-guard Cable for reinforcement? The only use of these thin materials is to add a defensive buff to armor, without adding weight.
But in a sense, Kelben was not lying either... after all, they had already been used up.
Lynn scanned the resource list again, making sure the other party felt clearly that he valued only this part before he nodded slightly, "Actually, our lord is not very willing to let non-good alignment trade caravans pass through Agleya City.
So, as long as Long Saddle Town shows appropriate sincerity, we’ll add a faction monitoring array to the road entrance... nobody will be willing to enter the domain of the Teraxil Elves under the red glow.
Even if an Abyssal Lord came, they wouldn’t hold back."
Adanko let out a sigh of relief, although more than half of the family’s wealth had to be spent, actually taking out these stockpiled resources wouldn’t affect the whole family’s operation... as long as Long Saddle Town’s status as a traffic hub remains, they have countless ways to fill the warehouses back up.
If Long Saddle Town’s position as a transportation hub no longer holds, and the Haber Family insists on staying, it would attract some attention... the Haber Family, of course, knows how many archmages have surveyed the area, including Marko’s good friend Kelben, who couldn’t resist checking for any special resources near the Haber Family the first few times he came.
But even if they are deities, unless they come personally, avatars cannot find the secrets of the Haber Family!
Adanko looked at the decree that Lynn took out: Agleya City only welcomes the presence of the good alignment on their territory.
All that was left was the seal of the City Lord.
Just waiting for those resources to be delivered to Agleya.