Damn, how could I have forgotten such an important thing? He smacked his forehead in regret, but it was too late to turn back to Spiritshade City now. He couldn't very well go back to Prince Brennus and admit he was inadequate for the task, asking him to choose someone else. "Forget it," Lion shook his head. Besides, he'd heard that Common language grammar was incredibly simple and easy to learn. He could figure it out once they left the desert and reached a town. It probably wasn't a big deal anyway.
Lion slipped the ring into the pocket of his robe and pulled out the brooch. Unlike the intricate design of the ring, the brooch was devoid of any text or patterns, smooth and unassuming in appearance.
However, its simplicity was deceptive. Prince Brennus wouldn't have thrown around worthless items in a spatial pouch and given them to Lion for nothing. As a fully qualified wizard, Lion could sense the immense power contained within these items.
They must be magical artifacts, he surmised. As for their specific functions, those weren't discernible through casual observation and required further analysis.
He pressed his fingertip against the brooch, concentrating and feeling the power within. To his delight, it was a defensive brooch that naturally formed an invisible protective force field around the wearer, deflecting attacks.
Simple yet practical, especially for fragile wizards.
Lion pinned the brooch on and pulled the ring out of his pocket once more. Closing his eyes, he focused his mind to detect its power, but this time he failed. It was as if an invisible membrane surrounded the ring, blocking his consciousness. After several attempts, he had to give up. This usually happened when the power contained within the ring was too strong for him to handle at present.
Frowning, Lion wondered about the purpose of the useless ring Prince Brennus had given him. After pondering for a while without finding an answer, he slipped the ring onto his left index finger and turned his attention to the last item, one that puzzled him the most.
The small shield.
Its surface was icy cold, with a slippery feel to the touch. The soft moonlight gently flowed over it, causing a faint iridescent glow to flicker and morph into different patterns.
Lion lifted the shield; it was surprisingly lightweight, which was good news for wizards. If they had to use a shield, the lighter it was, the better—of course, ideally, they wouldn't need one at all.
He placed his entire left palm on the shield, concentrated, and slowly sank his consciousness into it. Suddenly, a voice echoed in his mind.
It was incredibly cold, hard, and devoid of any emotion.
"Password!"
Password? Lion stumbled for a moment. This wasn't like opening an encrypted file on a computer or entering a secret door that required a password.
He opened his eyes and looked around, confirming no one else was present. Finally, he realized the voice came from the small shield in front of him. He closed his eyes again and tried to touch it with his consciousness.
Once more, the cold, hard voice echoed. "Password!"
Lion hesitated. He didn't dare to answer hastily, fearing a mistake. But the voice ignored his indecision, urging, "Password!"
An idea popped into Lion's mind. Perhaps…
"Shangjia," he said softly but clearly.
Immediately after speaking, he felt a bright flash. Lion opened his eyes to see the small triangular shield hovering in the air, slowly rotating and radiating iridescent light, illuminating the entire tent with a bizarre and colorful display.
Suppressing his excitement, Lion had a vague understanding of the shield's true value. He gave a mental command, or merely thought it, and the hovering shield sensed it, quickly moving horizontally to block Lion's left side, as if someone were holding and moving it.
This was an animated shield.
Wizards found it inconvenient to hold shields while casting spells, yet without one, they were often too vulnerable. Animated shields were created to address this Imperfection. With just a command from the owner, they could hover in the air and function as if being held, equivalent to an invisible extra hand for wizards. Their value was immense.
here were thousands of magical items in the world, and no unified standard to measure their value. However, magical items with intelligence were the rarest, encountered once in a lifetime and highly sought after. Animated shields, considered "semi-intelligent" magical items that could act under a wizard's commands, were also extremely precious and rare.
Countless wizards dreamed of obtaining an animated shield but never succeeded. Transforming an inanimate shield into an animated object fell under the realm of the School of Transmutation, so Lion was well aware of its difficulty. Moreover, this shield was made of iridescent dragon scales. The higher the tier of the material, the harder it was to imbue with magic. The difficulty of animating a dragon scale shield versus an ordinary wooden shield was incomparable.
Finally, he unfolded the scrolls.
Wizards could store magic in scrolls to compensate for their limited spell preparation, or use scrolls to cast more advanced spells they couldn't cast directly yet. Many experienced wizards often crafted magical scrolls for their students to use for protection when traveling.
The scrolls Lion held contained magic such as Teleport, Stoneskin, Polymorph, Earthglide, Charm Monster, and Arcane Eye, all slightly beyond Lion's current casting abilities but not excessively so, ensuring the caster's safety. Using a scroll with magic far beyond one's abilities could easily lead to magical backlash.
The spatial pouch, defensive brooch, animated dragon scale shield, a ring with unknown functions, and several vials of magical potions… Prince Brennus had given him so many things. This mission was probably not as simple as he'd thought…